Last week, when Pauline, my mother, and I were talking, she mentioned a bread she used to enjoy at her grandmother’s house. She described it as simple Italian bread that contained some cornmeal and was a personal favorite. I took her description and set to work because I enjoy playing the role of culinary detective. Although it may be a little off from what she recalls, I think this is quite close, and it was still excellent.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 35 mins |
| Additional Time: | 3 hrs 40 mins |
| Total Time: | 4 hrs 30 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 1 loaf |
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water
- ½ cup bread flour
- 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
- ⅛ teaspoon white sugar
- ½ cup cornmeal
- 2 ½ tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 2 cups bread flour, or as needed
- 1 tablespoon cornmeal, or as needed
Instructions
- Stir warm water, 1/2 cup bread flour, yeast, and sugar together in a bowl. Let stand until the yeast softens and forms a creamy mixture, about 40 minutes.
- Mix 1/2 cup cornmeal, olive oil, and salt into yeast mixture. Gradually add bread flour to yeast mixture until a dough pulls together.
- Knead dough on a lightly floured work surface until smooth and elastic, 10 to 12 minutes. Place dough in a large, lightly-oiled bowl and turn to coat. Cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 2 hours.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a 14-inch wide rectangle. Roll dough, starting from the long-end, into a loaf, finishing seam-side down.
- Dust a baking sheet with 1 tablespoon cornmeal. Place loaf on baking sheet, cover with a dry towel, and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Place a shallow pan of water on the lower rack of the oven.
- Cut a 1/2-inch deep slash down the center of the loaf.
- Bake in preheated oven until the top is golden brown and the bottom of loaf sounds hollow when tapped, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
Reviews
I had the feeling this was too much salt. With all the positive reviews, I went ahead anyway. I usually add a little more salt to baked goods out of personal preference, so I figured it would be okay. I should have followed my instincts. It was way too salty. Cut the salt in half. Other than that, it was very good!
I made this twice, first time I didn’t care for it. But this time it turned out perfect. Ate it still warm with chicken parm. Yummy! I made it pretty much as written except that I added the wet ingredients into all the dry. I just put the water, yeast and sugar to proof in the beginning. Also just used regular flour, didn’t have bread flour.
Turned out great. I love it. The cornmeal added just the perfect amount of texture. The only thing I did differently was to bake it at 400 degrees instead of 425.
There is a little crunch with the bread from the corn meal but it was an excellent choice to serve with chili.
Super delicious and easy to make .
This cornbread bread is so delicious! Thank you Chef John! I’ll be making this bread for my family probably once a week from now on!
These made GREAT rolls for “Original Homemade Italian Beef” recipe on this site. The only thing I did different is to add 2 tbs gluten, as corn meal does not contain any, to ensure proper rise. I love the grainy corn meal on the outside.
It is very Italian rustic Bread and very tasty. Thanks to Chef John for giving me a great recipe. I really enjoyed the process of baking and taste. It was a good day.
Fantastic recipe! Long live Chef John!
Excellent bread and it was well appreciated at Sunday dinner with my Italian family. If you simply follow the instructions you will end up with a fine loaf of bread.
First off, the bake time is actually only 25 mins. Like another reviewer, I made this in my bread machine on dough cycle. Shaped the loaf and let it rise one more time and it baked to perfection at 425 degrees!
This is spectacular. I used my bread maker on the dough setting then formed the loaf, let it rise again, and baked it. I am only giving 4 stars because I think the baking time/temperature is wrong. My loaf was done in 25 minutes even though I turned the heat down to 400.
This is spectacular. I used my bread maker on the dough setting then formed the loaf, let it rise again, and baked it. I am only giving 4 stars because I think the baking time/temperature is wrong. My loaf was done in 25 minutes even though I turned the heat down to 400.
Super easy to prepare. By far the lightest loaf I have ever made. The flavor is homey and the cornmeal adds a nice texture. Gonna do this one for guest!
This bread was wonderful! Thank you cef john I love you and all your wonderful recipe s! Lol???
Well, That temp first. At 425 degrees, you better start checking it at 25 minutes. I checked it at 26 minutes, turned it over and thumped the bottom, and because the color was a dark brown, I determined that it had baked long enough. The crust is great (crunchy)and the inside is nice and tender. It hasn’t cooled yet and the loaf is half gone. It will never make it until tomorrow. Every once in awhile that Chef John does comes up with a good one. Another thing. The proofing times. I think they are for all purpose flour. I used bread flour like the recipe calls for and the first raising time was more than doubled in 1 hour. I let the loaf raise for 30 minutes and popped it in the oven. It turned out great.
I made this for Thanksgiving the night before. They were soft, moist and delicious. Perfectly dense, but light at the same time. I’ll definitely be using this recipe for all of my italian bread needs!
I would use less salt. This bread is tasty but didn’t live up to my expectation as I thought the cornmeal flavor was lost.
Not have corn meal I used some corn flour instead. Still turned out very good. Bake time was a little too long but that may have been due to my variation.
Delicious! I loved! For me a bit salty, even with this small amount of salt recomended!
I tried making this in my bread maker and it was an epic failure. I’m not going to blame the recipe. Apparently, what makes it work isn’t compatible with my bread maker.