“No-knead bread” describes bread that doesn’t need to be kneaded – and indeed: you don’t dirty your hands when baking it. Patience is much more important, as the dough ferments with only a little yeast, and takes up to 18 hours to develop full volume and a nice aroma. Combine just a tiny 2g crumb of fresh yeast with 400g flour, salt and water to form a moist dough that then rises in the bowl for at least 12 hours (18 hours is even better). All the while the dough is working: the yeast transforms sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The resulting carbon dioxide forms bubbles in the dough – pure “yeast power” that loosens up and causes it to rise. Once formed, the ball of dough reposes on a kitchen towel well-floured with the seam in the dough facing downwards, where it can rest for 1-2 hours. About 30 minutes before you start baking, heat a round cast-iron pot with a lid in a hot oven to 225°C – we will bake the bread in the cast-iron pot. When the gluten in the dough comes into contact with the hot cast iron, a crisp crust is formed. Carefully take the hot pot out of the oven and drop the bread dough directly from the kitchen towel into the pot. Bake for 30 minutes in the oven with the lid on; then remove the lid for another 20 to 25 minutes so that it acquires a golden colour. Using a wooden spoon, remove the loaf from the pot, let it cool on a wire rack and provide a piece of fine butter. There is nothing nicer in the whole world than slicing the bread and generously spreading butter on this crisp home-made bread.
