This Artisan Bread with Pancetta and Rosemary came about as a real “What do I do with….?” scenario.
Then I flipped through the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day cookbook, and saw where they kneaded the pancetta into the dough. Aha! We’re on to something now! What I will give you below is the dough recipe, which I got from The Table, the community kitchen where I work one day a week, with the pancetta and a liberal sprinkling of rosemary, kneaded in. Pancetta can usually be found in the deli section of your supermarket. The pancetta melts as it bakes, oozing into the bread like butter with porky goodness.
Ingredients
- 1 (.25 oz) package active dry yeast
- 1 tsp white sugar
- 1 cup warm water (110 degrees)
- 2-1/2 cups bread flour
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 6 slices pancetta
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
Directions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a medium bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in flour, salt and oil. Knead until smooth. Let rest for 5 minutes.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat or roll into a round. Transfer crust to a lightly greased pizza pan or baker’s peel dusted with cornmeal.
- Dice the pancetta into 1/4-inch dice, and then knead it and the rosemary into the dough on a floured board. Once it is evenly distributed, shape the dough into a boule or round, about 2 inches thick in the middle, and about a 6-8 inches round. Let rise covered with a dishtowel, for about an hour.
- Heat your oven to 450 as mentioned above. Gently place boule on an oiled baking sheet, and slash with an X across the top. Dust lightly with flour if desired. You can also sprinkle more of the dried rosemary on top if you wish.
- Bake 25 to 30 minutes (depending on your oven), or until well browned. Remove, cool 10 minutes, and loosen from the sheet. Place on a rack to cool completely.
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