Rustic Rosemary Garlic Bread

Ever buy one of those fancy breads from your local grocery store? They always look so good. Which is why when I saw this recipe I knew I had to make it. I was making spaghetti for dinner the other night and thought to myself, "I should make a loaf of bread to go with it." You know, to be fancy and stuff. I had no idea how good this bread was going to turn out. Spaghetti what? Pass me the bread!

No I'm not lying. This bread was so good that the Mr. and I nearly ate the entire thing. This recipe is amazing. Not only does it make an extremely flavorful bread but it's not that difficult to make. I was a little nervous when 7 minutes into the first knead, the bread was really dense. But I stuck true to the recipe and in the end it turned out AMAZING. I will never second doubt a bread recipe again. The crust was crunchy and the added bonus of the sea salt added a whole new level to the bread. Meanwhile the center was really soft and full of garlic and rosemary. Honestly, this is by far the best bread I've ever eaten.

recipe from Chew Out Loud

• 1½ tsp active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water, 110-115F
• 2 tsp white sugar
• 2 tsp fine salt
• 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2½ cups bread flour
• 1 Tbsp dried rosemary
• ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• 1 head of roasted garlic
• extra olive oil for brushing on top and serving
• coarse sea salt for sprinkling on top
• clean water in spray bottle

1. In large bowl, Sprinkle yeast into 1 cup warm water. Mix in the sugar and salt. Let sit for about 10 minutes or until it foams. Add in olive oil. Add flour and knead (by hand or stand mixer) for about 10 minutes. Add rosemary, black pepper, and oregano. Knead another 5 minutes. Finally, gently knead in roasted garlic by hand, about 1 minute. Dough should come together well at this point; slightly sticky is fine. Place dough ball in well oiled bowl, turning dough a few times so that dough surfaces are protected by oil. Tightly cover bowl with cling wrap. Place in warm, draft-free area to rise until dough is doubled, approx. 1 hour, depending on room temp (if your room is cooler, it could take 2 hours.)
2. After dough is doubled, punch it down and shape into a rounded loaf. Using sharp knife, make a criss-cross design on top. Place rounded loaf on greased baking sheet. Cover up loaf with large mixing bowl inverted over it. Make sure bowl is large enough that it gives your loaf room to rise. Let rise until doubled again, approx 1 hour.
3. After dough has doubled again, gently brush with olive oil, sprinkle with coarse sea salt and a bit more rosemary. Bake at 375F for 25-30 minutes, spraying loaf with water once during the middle of baking. Bump oven up to 425F and spray loaf with water again. Watch carefully – bake just until top is a nice golden brown, taking care not to over bake.