Rustic Rosemary Bread

Wow, this bread is delicious! It tastes something like the bread they serve at Macaroni Grill and it goes so well with an Italian meal, which it what we had it with tonight (Linguine with Sicilian Pesto). We dipped it in olive oil sprinkled with Italian herbs and it was lovely.

Rustic Rosemary Bread

2 1/2 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 rounded tablespoon SAF instant yeast
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup hot tap water
a little less than 1 tablespoon fresh chopped rosemary
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning (I used McCormick's Italian Seasoning Grinder)
melted butter

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook combine flour, sugar, yeast, and salt; mix quickly to combine. Add olive oil and water and mix for 1 minute; check texture and add more water (a tablespoon at a time) if too dry and more flour (a tablespoon at a time) if too wet. Knead on high for 7 minutes. Add rosemary, black pepper, and Italian seasonings and mix until combined (I finished this by hand). Form dough into a smooth ball and place in a large greased bowl; cover with non-stick sprayed plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 40 minutes.

Punch down dough and divide into 2 parts. Shape each half of dough into a ball and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet or stone. If desired you can cut a cross in the top of the loaves with a sharp knife. Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 15 minutes. Heat oven to 370 degrees and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Brush loaves with melted butter and allow to cool on wire racks. Serve with butter or olive oil sprinkled with Italian seasonings.