The Best Italian Bread

Adapted from King Arthur Flour's Recipe

Ingredients: 
Biga
3/4 cup Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1/8 teaspoon instant yeast

Rest of the Dough
2 teaspoons instant yeast
2/3 cup water
2 1/4 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup of Whole Wheat Flour
1 1/4 teaspoons salt

(If you don't want a earthier tasting bread just do the full 2 3/4 All-Purpose Flour and don't use any Whole Wheat Flour)

Do the biga overnight in a nice warm place. Next day, mix the nice spongy biga with the rest of the dough ingredients (I use bread hooks on a stand mixer). When that's mostly together, dump on to some flat, floured surface and knead for a while (around 10 minutes). Put into a large, oiled bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm dark place for 90 minutes (deflate and turn over after 45 minutes. If it didn't even come close to doubling, I usually just let rise completely for the full 90-120 minutes without touching it). When that's done, dump on the flat surface and either divide into three long ropes and braid it or just form it into a large, longish oval lump and place on a baking sheet (which should be greased and sprinkled with corn meal). Cover this and let rise again for about 90 minutes (also in a warm dark place).

Place a pan of water on the lowest rack, and set the oven to 425 degrees. To make the crust crusty and dark, coat the bread in a beaten-egg-and-milk mixture before you put it in the oven, and repeat about half way through baking (take that time to also turn the pan around). The bread takes about 25-30 minutes to bake. It's done when you knock on the back of it and it has a distinctly hollow noise.