Italian bread is similar to French bread, but is wider and softer. This bread is perfect for dipping in oil, as well as for making sandwiches and garlic bread!
In a large bowl or stand mixer, mix together the flour and yeast. Stir in the water and make a dough that's neither too stiff nor too sticky. Add a little more flour or water as necessary.
Once the dough comes together, knead on a lightly floured surface, or in your stand mixer on medium-low, for about 6 minutes, until the dough is soft and pliable. The dough should be tacky - it wants to hold on to your finger like a Post-It note does, but doesn't really leave any dough behind.
Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, coat dough with oil, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for 2-4 hours, until doubled in size. Degas the dough, return it to the bowl, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
Remove the cold dough from the refrigerator 1 hour before making the dough. Cut it into about 10 pieces (to make mixing easier). Let sit, covered, at room temperature for 1 hour to take off the chill.
In a stand mixer or large bowl, mix together the Day 1 dough, flour, salt, sugar, yeast, olive oil, and ¾ cup water, and mix until a ball forms. Your dough should be slightly sticky and soft; add a tiny bit more flour or water if necessary. You'd rather your dough be too sticky now, as it's hard to add water to dough later.
Knead dough with your stand mixer on medium speed, or on a floured surface, for about 6-10 minutes. (Kneading by hand will take longer.) Your dough should be soft and tacky, like a Post-It note that clings to you, but not sticky. It will also pass the windowpane test; see notes below.
Place kneaded dough in an oiled bowl, coat with oil, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temperature for about 2 hours or until dough doubles in size. If your kitchen is cold, see notes for tips on making a warm space to have your dough rise.
Gently divide the dough in half, deflating the dough as little as possible. (That said, I degassed my dough a lot, and it didn't harm it at all.) Flatten out each ball of dough into a tall rectangle.
Fold the top third of the dough over the middle third, like you would fold a paper or letter over. Next, fold the bottom third up over that seam, and seal the edge to the top edge of the dough. Repeat for the other rectangle. You will have 2 rough, squat loaves.
Let the dough rest for 5 minutes to let the gluten recover, if necessary. Stretch and roll the loaves out to about 12 inches in length. Place each loaf on a baking sheet lined with parchment or dusted with cornmeal or flour.
Spray the top of each loaf with oil, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise for about an hour, or until loaves have grown to about 1 ½ times their original size.
Preheat oven to 475-500F, and place an empty pan on the bottom rack of the oven (so it can preheat to turn water into make steam). Heat some water, preferably in a kettle, so you can pour it into this pan later.
When the oven is preheated, score the bread with a sharp knife. Place the baking sheet on the middle oven rack. Using a gloved hand, carefully pour the water into the hot pan on the bottom oven rack. Be careful not to create spatters that may crack your oven door's glass. Close everything back into the oven.
Lower the oven temperature to 450F. Bake the bread for about 20 minutes, rotating halfway through the baking time if necessary. The bread will be golden brown when it's done. It will sound hollow if you tap on the bottom; it will be 200F if you take its temperature with a thermometer.
Transfer loaves to a wire cooling rack as soon as possible. Cool at least 1 hour, but preferably 2, before cutting.
Forget to start your bread dough the night before? Start the Day 1 dough first thing in the morning, letting it rise 2 hours before combining it with the remaining dough ingredients.
Bread flour works best for making stretchy bread like this. However, it works fine with all-purpose flour; your bread will simply be a little less chewy.
Dough will absorb additional flour as you knead, so err on your dough starting off too wet, rather than too dry.
Windowpane test: take a small piece of dough and stretch it out between your fingers. It should stretch out a large amount without tearing. It should also become thin enough that you can see light behind the dough.
To make a warm proofing space in a cold kitchen, I preheat my oven for 1-2 minutes, then turn off the heat. I close the bowl of dough in the oven. This is warm enough to prove the dough, but not too hot. However, your oven may heat more or less quickly than mine does.
Adapted from Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice