This week we’re talking BREAD! Not any bread but Crusty No Knead Artisan Bread french style that’s soft, light, fluffy and super crusty outside. The aroma when baked transport me to France’s or Italy’s bakeries at mid-morning when they are baking the bread for the lunch rush.
This artisan bread recipe could not be easier, there’s no kneading involved all the hard work is just mixing the flour, that’s it! The result is a delicious french style bread perfect for dipping on soups, for bruschette, as crostini, for sandwiches or anything you can think of.
If you don’t have a cast iron pot you can also bake it in a standard pot, it doesn’t come out as crusty as when baked in the cast iron, but nonetheless is delicious and crusty. Just bear in mind you will need a pot that can be put in the oven and resists temperature of up to 2250 C. Another option is to use deep cast iron skillet and cover it with parchment paper, leaving space for the bread to rise whilst being baked.
PRINT THE RECIPE
Crusty outside soft inside like proper french style crusty bread. The only hard work in this recipe is just mixing the flour, no kneading is needed. Use white bread flour, brown flour or any flavoured bread flour.
- 360 gr Bread flour White, brown or a mix of flavoured bread flours.
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Dried yeast
- 350 ml Hot water
- More flour for shaping the dough
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In a bowl add the flour, yeast, salt and water and mix until all ingredients are combined. This is a sticky dough. Cover with wrap or a tea towel and leave to prove for 3 hours or until it has doubled in size.
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After 3 hours the dough will have bubbles and and become puffy. Pour it onto a working surface, sprinkle with a couple of tbsp of flour and shape into a ball using a scraper.
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Place a piece of parchment paper in the bowl and replace the the dough ball again the bowl and leave to rest for 35 to 40 minutes.
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In the meantime pre-heat the oven at 220 C / 450 F and place the cast iron pot in it so it also warms up.
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When the oven and pot are hot place the dough ball with the parchment paper in the pot cover with the lid and place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
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After 30 minutes remove the lid and parchment paper and continue to bake for another 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown on top.
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Once baked removed fro the pot and place on a cooling rack.
HOW LONG DOES IT LAST
This is an artisan bread without any kind of preservatives so ideally you want to use it within the same day, not because is not edible next day, but it won’t be crusty or as soft as the day it was made.
I like to make bread pudding or slice it toast it and make Bruschette, or make croutons, or leave it to get completely hard and make breadcrumb, you can use it as any other bread.
My husband tends to put it in a sealed plastic bag at the end of the day and this keeps it slightly moist too.
MIXING DIFFERENT FLOURS
For this video I used 90% white strong flour and 10% of multi seeded flour to make a more chewer bread. You can mix any type of flour to your taste, one thing though, it comes out crustier when is made with 100% white strong flour.
Well guys I hope you enjoy making this artisan bread recipe french style. When t comes to bread recipe this has to be easiest one so there’s no excuse not to make home-made bread. Not only is 100% times more delicious than the ones you buy in the shop, but it definitely makes you feel proud on achieving such wonderful bread.
See you next time with another delicious recipes
HAPPY COOKING 🙂
