Italian Herb Bread

Photo: Vaishali Sharma (Bhutani)

Ingredients

1 package active dry yeast

1 cup warm water (105- 115 degree F)

1/2 cup olive oil

3 1/4 cups all purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic salt

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

2 teaspoons italian seasoning

1 teaspoon dried parsley

I told ya, I had put all the herbs I could lay my hands on:)

Preparation

Dissolve yeast in warm water with 1 tbsp of sugar and keep aside for 10 minutes. If yeast is good, it will become frothy and increase in volume.

In the mixer of your electric mixer add 1/4 cup of olive oil, 2 cups flour, 1 tbsp of sugar, garlic salt and all the herbs. With the dough hook, turn to speed 2 and mix until well blended. You can mix all these ingredients by a spatula if you plan to knead by hand.

Add remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time and continue on speed 2 (or knead by hands) until dough starts to clean the sides of the bowl and gets smooth and elastic. With hands, it will take about 10-15 minutes.

Place dough in a greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until double in bulk.

Punch down down and divide in to 6 equal portions. Roll out each on of them in a rectangle, brush with olive oil and shape into a loaf.

Put all the 6 loafs in greased baking tray and let them sit until doubled in size (approx 30-40 min). Brush with olive oil and bake in a pre-heated 425 degree oven for 15-18 minutes.

Are you smelling the bread already? Take it out of the oven and let it cool down for about 10 minutes. Serve Warm.......Isn't it tasty? :)