Recipes: Pane Toscano, Pane per la Zuppa

Pane Toscano (Tuscan Bread)

Makes two loaves

Note: For a chewy bread with authentic flavor, begin the starter four days ahead.

Starter (see accompanying recipe)

1 tsp. active dry yeast

2 c. warm (105 degrees) water, divided

6 c. flour, divided

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured board; knead 15 minutes, adding more flour as necessary to make firm, smooth dough. Form into 2 rounds; place on lightly oiled baking sheet. Snip tops of loaves with scissors at 2-inch intervals. Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours.

When dough has almost doubled, preheat oven to 450 degrees and place pan of hot water on lowest rack. Bake bread 12 minutes at 450 degrees, then reduce heat to 375 degrees; continue baking until bread sounds hollow when tapped. Cool on racks before slicing.

Starter

Makes enough for 4 loaves

1 tsp. active dry yeast

1½ c. flour

1 tsp. sugar

Sprinkle the yeast into the water. Let stand 5 minutes to soften. Add flour and sugar; mix to form a rough ball. Dough will be stiff and coarse. Dust with a little additional flour, cover, and set aside at cool room temperature for four days. Starter will become quite hard. On the fourth day, divide starter in half. Put half in a bowl covered with plastic wrap, at room temperature, to make dough; put remaining half in covered container and refrigerate for up to 2 months.

Pane per la Zuppa (Bread for Soup)

Makes 12 slices.

1 tbsp. fennel seed, lightly crushed in a mortar

1 tbsp. freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp. salt

5 eggs

3 tbsp. olive oil

2 tbsp. freshly grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a large baking sheet. Combine garlic, fennel seed, pepper and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

Whisk together eggs and olive oil. Dip bread slices in egg mixture one at a time and let them soak briefly to absorb some egg. Arrange bread slices on baking sheet.