This was SO good it's definitely 5 stars but what a journey for me to get there! I don't have a bread machine but still really wanted to try this recipe. So I proofed the yeast then dumped everything else in and tried to knead it. (I'm kind of a novice at making bread...anyway). Well it was waaaayyyy to much flour and it turned into a hard dense un-kneadable mass. It was impossible to knead and I realize I should have only put in part of the flour and then added more as I went along. I went along with it anyway and set it in a bowl to rise. After 30 minutes and it hadn't risen at all I decided to start completely over because I really wanted this with dinner tonight. I chucked the first attempt and started over. Proofed the yeast w/sugar and warm water for 10 minutes then added the rest of indgredients except flour. I only added 3 cups of flour (including 1 cup of whole wheat) and it was a pleasure to knead. Soft smooth and pliable. I added more flour as I went along maybe another cup altogether. (Didn't put in any lecithin...whatever that is!) It rose beautifully this time and tasted out of this world! We ate it with Rich and Creamy Tomato soup and ate almost all of it! (I made the whole recipe and it made 2 8-inch round loaves not one. But I was glad it made a lot!). I will make sure to write down my notes because I WILL be making this bread again!
I really enjoyed this alot. It reminds of the pizza bread they serve at a local restaurant called the Italian Bistro. If you chop a fresh tomato and saute it in olive oil with fresh garlic and some salt then spread that on top before baking it would be identical. The first time I made it I baked it for 20 minutes and the top was definitely golden but the center was still doughy. The second time I baked it for 25 minutes instead and that did the trick.
I have made this twice in the past two days...my husband loves it! Perfect...it's not hard to make either....love it
Very good indeed. I halved the recipe and made in an 8" pan left out the lecithin and didn't use bread machine at all. It looked very pretty too (see photo). Next time I make it though I will decrease the amount of olive oil to make it healthier. This has a lot of potential.
I really liked this bread. I even modified it by adding chopped tomatoes black olives roasted red peppers and a little bit of chopped onion to the top for extra flavoring.
My husband LOVED this bread...he actually said that I should make it ANY time we were going to have company...make sure you use the traditional "italian butter" (olive oil with fresh ground pepper in a dish for dipping) to enhance it even more;) (note i did sprinkle pretzel salt over the top prior to baking the second loaf...we are salt-a-holics)
This was sooooo good! I omitted the lecithin and added some garlic. I decided that the 1/3 cup olive oil and 1/3 parmesan cheese was to be used after the bread is formed on the cookie sheet not added into the machine. Dipped in Italian butter..yum
This recipe IS a husband pleaser! We both love it as did my weight watching neighbor who begged me not to give her any more of it (for a while). Great texture and flavor and it kept well too. This is definitely a "keeper". Thanks Sandra!
This is very good bread. It made much more than one 8" round pan full. In fact I made two pans full! I could not find lecithin so I left it out. I added garlic to the topping. My family enjoyed it very much.
What a disappointment this was for me and I had such high hopes after reading the reviews. I followed the recipe to the letter with the exception of adding a few more Italian herbs. My Bread Machine usually gives me excellent results with this recipe it had a problem kneading the dough I had to keep loosening it with a spatula it was so dense then finally I added a little more water but it still kept seizing up possibly 4 1/2 cups of flour are too much? It took 40 minutes to achieve a light golden baked result and even then the bottom was still very pale. Although the flavor of the bread was good the texture was very dense and heavy the crust dry and hard. I used Bread Flour and Bread Machine yeast with an expiration date of 05/09 so I am at a loss to know what I did wrong possibly I should have divided the dough and made two loaves but I wanted a large loaf to use for paninni sandwiches. I'll have to try a different recipe.
