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.

Fratta Bread

... cinnamon buns, the roll-up method ... just for fun ...

Catie asked Mary and me if we knew how to make Fratta Bread

We didn't.

She had learned how to make it at Young Women’s and she would like to try to make it at home.

Mary said that she would go to the Internet to find the method, but Catie had the recipe in her wallet.

Naomi, having chance to cut the buns for the "other" way of making a treat

The recipe is that precious?

Bring the recipe on.

 I was puzzled – not with the recipe which was very little yeast, no kneading of the dough and a rising time of at least 12 hours. I could handle that.

Putting flour on a tea-towel, then placing the dough on the flour and wrapping the tea-towel and letting it have another rise that way?

That is where I felt an internal balking.

... wrap the floured dough in a tea towel ...

In my mind I can hear a voice saying, “And who is going to wash the flour out of that tea-towel?”.

Still, this was a project on Catie’s mind and Mary stood at her side while she put the dough in place for its overnight rise.

... mould the dough into a round ball ...

The dough is dropped out of the tea-towel right into a pot that one might cook soup in and baked.

When the project was over Mary and I were talking about going out to the internet again, and finding a video that would give us more information on Fratta Bread.

“Oh, it is called Fratta Bread because it was Bishop Fratta who came to Young Women’s and taught us how to make it,” said Catie.

... two perfect Sicilian loaves ...
... note the dusting of flour on the bread ...
... and its lovely round shape, having just been dropped out of a roasting pot ...
Who knew?

In the end – a lovely Sicilian loaf.

Otherwise known as (Brishop) Fratta Bread.

Arta

(Originally published on Larch Haven March 15, 2013 )