You know those warm, delicious, herbed breads they bring to the table at your favorite Italian place? You can have them at home any night. The bread machine does most of the work, but you get all the credit. For extra convenience, this recipe uses regular all purpose flour - no need to use the special bread machine type. 

 

Bread ingredients:

1 cup warm water

3 cups sifted all purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons table salt

2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

4 cloves chopped garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 package (or 2 1/4 teaspoons) regular yeast (no need to use the special bread machine type)

 

Basting ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil

dash coarse salt

dash freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon mixed fresh oregano and basil

 

Add all bread ingredients to the bowl of your bread machine in the order listed. Set the machine for the "dough" setting. This setting mixes, kneads, and raises the dough then stops. Start the machine and let run until it stops. On most machines the run time for the "dough" setting is 90 minutes. 

 

Punch the dough down in the bread machine bowl, and turn it out onto a slightly floured board and bring it together with your hands, releasing all the air. Cut into 4ths, shape them into small loaves, and place on a parchment-lined (or lightly greased) baking sheet. With a serrated knife, cut slits in the tops of the loaves. Cover loosely with a tea towel and let rise in a draft-free place until they have doubled in size (45 minutes to 1 hour).

 

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place baking sheet with loaves in the center of the oven and bake 16 - 19 minutes or until deep, golden brown on top and the loaves sound hollow when tapped with your finger. While loaves are baking, mix together basting ingredients. Remove baked loaves from oven and baste generously. Let cool 15 minutes, serve warm.