homemade artisan bread

ingredients:

3 cups of all purpose flour

1-1/2 tsps of sea salt

2-1/4 tsps or 1 package of dry active yeast

1-1/2 cups of water warm

supplies:

2 mixing bowls

dutch oven

cooling rack

directions:

in a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and yeast, and mix well. add the warm water, and stir the mixture until it looks shaggy, loose, and sticky. It should look like this. cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside on counter for 12-18 hours. overnight works as well. 

when ready to bake, preheat your oven to 450. put the cast iron dutch oven with the lid on in the oven, and heat the pot for 30 minutes. while the pot warms up, transfer the bread dough onto a floured surface. gently shape the dough into a round loaf of bread by pulling the outsides into the center, in a folding motion. do not knead the dough, just shape it. if it is too sticky, add more flour as needed.

once the dutch oven has heated, put the dough inside and bake with the lid on for 30 minutes. after 30 minutes, remove the lid, and bake another 10-15 minutes without the lid, until the top is golden and crispy. carefully remove the dutch oven from the oven, and put the bread on a cooling rack. serve warm.