Tuscan bread (Pane Toscana)

Easiest, no-knead bread you'll ever make - quite versatile and tasty, too - just a lot of rising time, so plan to start it the day before:

INGREDIENTS

* 3 c. unbleached flour
* 1/4 tsp. instant dry yeast
* 1-1/4 tsp. salt
* extra flour (any kind) for dusting and for work surface, dash of cornmeal for baking surface

* 1-1/2 c. lukewarm water - a bit more if needed


DIRECTIONS

1. Use a fork to whisk together dry ingredients in large, stainless-steel bowl, then add water.

2. Stir mixture well, until flour is mostly incorporated - some will stick to sides of bowl. This is a very sticky, shaggy-looking dough. (NB: I use my KitchenAid stand mixer with dough hook and stainless steel bowl attachment, and a fork to quickly scrape at the sides rather than a spatula)

3. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let it rest and rise for 18 hours - yes - 18 hours. Dough surface will appear fairly bubbly when ready.

4. Turn dough out onto floured work surface and fold it over on itself 2-3 times, sprinkling lightly with extra flour. (Be sure to flour your fingers, too - the dough will be sticky and stringy as it comes out of the bowl.) Cover loosely with plastic again and let rest for 15 minutes.

5. Flour a cotton towel (not terry cloth - linty!) and set it on a flat surface, then take the dough, quickly shape it into a ball and place it, seam side down, on floured towel. Sprinkle top surface of dough with flour and cover with another towel, let rise for 2 more hours. (I swear by the nice, cheap flour sack towels from IKEA for this, but any thin, non-terry cotton towel will do). I place the towels into a round proofing basket, but it is ok to leave on the counter, too.

6. Preheat oven to 450* placing a large, covered 6-8 qt. cooking pot - cast iron, enamel, ceramic, or (my favorite) stoneware in to preheat at the same time - about 15 min. before 2nd rising is done.

7. After 2nd rising, dough should double in size and keep its shape when poked gently with a finger. Carefully take cooking pot out and set it on stovetop or insulated surface. Sprinkle in some cornmeal to lightly coat surface of pot. Uncover dough, and quickly invert into cooking pot - shake the pot a bit to center the dough if needed, but don't sweat it, even if it looks bad or a bit uneven, it will look fine after it bakes.

8. Cover pot and bake 20 minutes, then uncover and bake another 20 miuntes until it is a nice, deep golden brown. Bread, when done, will sound hollow if you knock on it. Slice and serve warm with your favorite meal.

This is a great, rustic bread! It is dense and chewy, with large "pores." It is fine on its own, with butter or oil & herbs, and compliments your fave soups, stews, salads, etc. You can slice it thin for panini and broiled/grilled mini pizzas or garlic bread. Any leftovers can be used for croutons OR for Tuscan Bread Soup. (I'll post that one in the Fall).

Buon Apetito - and enjoy!

P.S. About the stoneware - I use a covered "cloche" (bell-shaped) pan. It makes a flatter, disc-shaped loaf. You can get one for about $40 from any number of manufacturers, mine's from Sassafrass - it's versatile (you can bake bread, casseroles, pizza, etc. in it) and IMHO, nothing works better for bread baking. Except maybe a bread machine, but Wiley bit the cord off that a few years back...