Fratta Bread Recipe (otherwise known as Sicilian No-Knead Bread)

Note: this makes a pretty large loaf of  bread and unless you are feeding a large group, you will have leftovers.

3 cups (430g) flour
1½ cups (345g or 12oz) water
¼ teaspoon (1g) yeast
1¼ teaspoon (8g) salt
olive oil (for coating)
extra flour, wheat bran, or cornmeal (for dusting)

special equipment: a 6-8 quart pot with lid (Pyrex glass, cast iron, or ceramic)

Sicilian no-Knead Bread

Combine all the dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl (or a plastic bucket).  Add the water and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula until the flour is incorporated (not more than a minute). The dough will be pretty shaggy and sticky.  Cover with plastic wrap or top and let sit for 12-18 hours at room temperature (about 70 degrees F).

When the time is up (the dough will have bubbles on the surface), use a spatula to remove the dough from the container to a well floured surface.  With floured hands, gently fold the dough over on itself once or twice (in half is fine).  Let sit for 15-30 minutes more and then shape into a ball.  Move dough to one half of a floured towel (not terry cloth, but a smooth kitchen towel).  Sprinkle the top with flour and cover with the rest of the towel.  Let rise for 1-2 hours, or until doubled in size.

In the last part of the rise preheat the oven to 450-500 degrees F.  Place the container and lid in the oven to preheat, as well. Once the dough has doubled in size, take the hot pot out of oven, take off the lid and place the dough in the pot seam side up. Don’t worry what it looks like at this point. You can transfer the dough to the pot while still on the towel by picking up the towel like a tray with two hands. Cover the pot and bake for 30 minutes.  Uncover the pot and let bake for 15-30 more minutes.  Remove from the oven and pot and let cool completely on a rack.