Bon Appetits Italian Pepper Bread Recipes

ITALIAN MEAT LOAF

Steps:

• Grease 9x5-inch loaf pan. Place rye and white breads in large bowl. Pour 1 cup water over. Let soak 5 minutes. Drain off any excess water. Mash bread finely with fork. Add ground beef, onion, egg, Parmesan, parsley, salt and pepper and mix well. Transfer to prepared dish. (Can be prepared 6 hours ahead. Chill.)
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Bake meat loaf 30 minutes. Pour tomato sauce over. Sprinkle with oregano. Bake 20 more minutes. Let stand 5 minutes.

ROSEMARY-PEPPER FOCACCIA

Steps:

• Blend 2 cups flour, yeast, salt and sugar in processor. Combine hot water and 1 tablespoon oil in glass measuring cup. With machine running, add water mixture through feed tube and process until elastic and uniformly moist dough forms that just cleans inside of work bowl, about 40 seconds. If dough is sticky, add more flour by tablespoons, incorporating each addition before adding next. If dough is dry, add water by tablespoons, incorporating each addition before adding next. Gather dough into ball. Transfer to greased bowl, turning to coat entire surface. Cover with damp towel and let rise 30 minutes.
• Grease 12-to 14-inch pizza pan or baking sheet. Sprinkle with cornmeal. Punch dough down and knead until smooth. Cover and let rest 10 minutes. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface pan. Dimple surface with fingertips. Spread remaining 2 teaspoons oil over. Sprinkle with rosemary and crushed red pepper. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Let rise 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 400°F. Bake bread until golden, about 20 minutes. Cut hot bread into wedges and serve.

CRACKED PEPPER FOCACCIA WITH TRUFFLE OIL

Steps:

• Stir 2 cups lukewarm water and yeast in large bowl to blend. Mix in 3 tablespoons olive oil, truffle oil, cracked pepper, and 2 teaspoons salt. Add 1 cup flour. Using wood spoon, stir vigorously until well incorporated. Add enough of remaining 3 3/4 cups flour, about 1/2 cup at a time, to form dough that is soft, sticky and not completely smooth, stirring vigorously until well incorporated. Oil large bowl. Scrape dough into oiled bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. For do-ahead version: Chill dough overnight. Allow dough to come to room temperature in warm draft-free area before proceeding. For same-day version: Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 45 minutes (do not punch down dough).
• Lightly oil 15x10x1-inch baking sheet. Slide out dough onto prepared baking sheet (dough will be soft and will easily slide out onto sheet; do not punch down dough or knead dough). Gently pull and stretch dough so that dough almost covers baking sheet. Press fingertips all over top of dough to form indentations. Brush top of focaccia with remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Sprinkle with thyme, rosemary and coarse salt. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rise in warm draft-free area until puffed, about 30 minutes for refrigerated dough and about 15 minutes for room-temperature dough.
• Meanwhile, position rack in center of oven and preheat to 450°F. Bake focaccia until deep golden brown, about 30 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool.
• *Available at Italian markets, specialty foods stores and some supermarkets.