No Knead Bread

I’m going to make a confession. I really like kneading bread. I don’t understand when people want to do less kneading.

Maybe I LIKE the misery..

So I’ve always ignored these no knead recipes. But I got sucked in the other day, browsing bread recipes in lockdown, as we all are. I saw some pictures of some bread that just had the best crust and looked artisan-bakery perfection.

Can't argue with that crust

It was no knead. I gave it a go.

And it turned out GREAT. The best part is that it takes almost no time to prep the dough, then you can leave it in the fridge for up to 7 days before baking! This means I can have fresh bread in the morning. Don’t underestimate how wonderful that is.

The secret of the crust is the steam generated from cooking it in a pre-heated lidded dish. Magical.

Ingredients

• 300g plain flour
• 2 tsp sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 sachet dried yeast (7g)
• 240ml lukewarm water

To Cook

• 1 tbsp oil
• 2 tbsp semolina or corneal

Method

Couldn’t be easier. Mix together the flour, sugar, salt and yeast. Make a well. Add the water and mix until you have a rough dough. (I couldn’t resist, and I kneaded for like 10 seconds. Sorry. You don’t have to do this.)

Let rest at room temp for 2 hours in a bowl covered with cling film.

Put in the fridge for at least 2 hours, and up to 7 days.

After 24 hours

When you’re ready to bake, remove from the fridge, turn out onto a floured surface and form into a rough ball. Slash the top with a sharp knife a few times. Cover with cling.

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees C and place a large ceramic dish with a lid (like a casserole dish) in to heat up for 30 minutes.

Remove briefly from the oven and drizzle the oil in the bottom and sprinkle over the semolina.

Place the dough into the dish, cover with a lid and place back in the oven.

Bake for 30 minutes with the lid on, then remove the lid and bake for another 5-10 minutes until crispy golden.

Allow to cool on a rack.

Slice when cooled a bit, or as soon as it’s not too hot to burn your hands.