Lazy Artisan Bread

Bread. Gosh, I LOVE bread.  Warm bread with melted butter… need I say more?  Artisan bread always fascinated me; the décor, the floured surface, the big loafs just waiting to be cut into.  Is there such a thing as lazy artisan bread? I never imagined.  Why?

It all looks so complicated…

So, I went searching for the most simplistic recipe. Minimum work, minimum ingredients and very easy to make.  How about this for simple: 4 ingredient, no knead, artisan bread. This bread is great for basically anything. My personal favorite: Use the bread for gourmet grilled cheese dipped in a homemade tomato soup. Yum!  The texture is perfectly crunchy and chewy on the outside and soft in the inside.  The one hiccup. You should make it a day in advance. The bonus: you can make it  on a Friday and have freshly made warm bread over the weekend for your favorite brunch items.

Check it out:

Directions:

In a large bowl, add water, yeast, salt and flour. Mix until there is not a dry bit of flour.  The dough should be moist and wet. . Cover in saran wrap and let sit for 8-12 hours or overnight.

Once rested, remove saran wrap and, beginning with the top of the dough, pull it and stretch it to the bottom.  Then moving clockwise continue (pull right side up and stretch across to the left, pull bottom up across to the top and left up across to the right).  Flip the dough over and let sit (covered)  for 30 minutes. Repeat 2- 3 more times.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Dust flour onto a piece of parchment paper just larger than the dough.  Roll dough onto parchment paper. Dust lightly with flour.  Place parchment paper into dutch oven. Let sit for 30 minutes.  Score bread (as desired).

Cook with lid on for about 30 minutes and then remove lid and cook for another 30 minutes or until crust is dark brown.

Pull out of the oven and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes then it’s ready to serve.