- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 1 ½ cups warm water (about 110°)
In a large glass bowl, thoroughly blend the flour, salt, and yeast. Pour the warm water into the flour mixture and (important!) use only a wooden spoon to stir it. A shaggy dough will form that is quite sticky.
Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let it proof for anywhere from 8 to 16 hours. The dough needs to rise, bubble up, and level off on the top before you know it is done.
Place your 6 quart enamel-coated Dutch oven (check out this one – it’s my favorite!) into the center of your oven and allow the oven to preheat to 450°. Allow the Dutch oven to heat up in the oven for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, coat your fingers with flour and punch down your dough. Sprinkle a fair amount of flour onto a sheet of parchment paper and drop your dough (in a ball) onto the parchment paper, covering it with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest here for 20-30 minutes.
Take your Dutch oven out of your oven, uncover the dough, and pick up the parchment paper (with the dough in the center) and carefully place it into the Dutch oven, covering it with the Dutch oven cover. Place the dough-filled Dutch oven into the hot oven and bake your bread for 45 minutes with the cover on. Remove the Dutch oven cover carefully and bake the bread for another 10 minutes or so until the bread is golden brown on the top. Tempting as it may be…let the bread cool at least a little bit before slicing it open!
Hillary Danaher 