Delicious artisan bread with very minimal effort. (Just takes time!)
Eat it for breakfast, use it for sandwiches, fashion it into an appetizer, or serve it alongside a soup for dinner.
3 cups all purpose or bread flour
1/4 teaspoon yeast
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 - 1 1/2 cups cold water
Must have a dutch oven!
1. Mix together all the ingredients in a bowl. The dough should be a bit sticky. No need to knead the dough; just enough to form a ball. The amount of water depends on the humidity and the type of flour you use.
2. Put a kitchen towel over the bowl to keep the dirt out and let it sit for 12-18 hours.*
3. Use the same towel or a bread towel if you have one and sprinkle flour on it. Take out the bread laying the top dry part face down. Push to sides together into a ball if it stretched a bit. Sprinkle the top of the dough with some more flour. Fold the towel over it and let it sit for 1 to 2 hours.
4. Preheat your oven to 475°F with the dutch oven inside. When it is at full temperature take out the dutch oven and lay the bread inside. Put the top on and throw it in the oven for 30 minutes.**
5. Take of the top of the dutch oven and bake it for another 15 minutes at the same temperature.***
6. Let it cool for about 30 minutes before eating.
*Letting the dough rise for such a long time allows the yeast to do its work resulting in long strands of gluten in the dough and a sweeter bread. It also means the dough requires less yeast than conventional methods and no sugar.
**Using the dutch oven allows us to bake it at a high temperature without burning the bread or letting too much water escape!
***The last 15 minutes of baking without the top is to allow the delicious crust to form.