The secret of crusty bread is high humidity. Here we bake it in a covered dutch oven.
The finished bread is crusty, chewy and delicious…
This recipe is a modification of a recipe by Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery, NYC, which appeared in the NYTimes in November 2006.
Anyone who has lived in or traveled to Italy or southern France has experienced the wonderful bread which is the staple of the people of the countryside. It is crusty and crunchy on the surface, and the interior has large holes, is translucent and yellowish, and is chewy. It is a bread that makes you know you are eating real food! During a sabbatical in a rural neighborhood near Naples, Italy (on Via Romano), this bread was not only the staple in the local bakery, but also baked by our friend Louisa in the outdoor wood-fired brick oven of the extended family with which we lived.
This is our personal experience with “Peasant Bread:” Pane Rustico. For us, the name is deceptively modest. In fact, this bread is worthy of wonder and respect, for making it is a practical art evolved from many centuries by people who have lived close to the earth, and developed extraordinary culinary skills.
The following recipe comes as close to replicating this marvelous bread as any we have found (after a 15 year search!). Try it first with while flour (as below), then try the Whole Wheat/White Flour version. The whole wheat version is nearly as light and crunchy, but also bears some of the vitamins, quality protein, and roughage removed from while flour products.
Supplies:
3 cups white enriched flour
1 1/2 cups fresh water, warmed to 90 F
1 tsp Kosher or sea salt
1/4 teaspoon active yeast
cornflour or additional flour for dusting dough and cloth
Equipment:
1 gallon pot or mixing bowl with cover
measuring cups (one pint and one quart)
measuring spoons (1/4 and 1 teaspoons)
whisk
dish towel, non-terry cloth
heavy 1-2 gallon covered cast iron pot (Dutch oven)
cooling rack
Procedure:
1) The night before, assemble the ingredients: 3 cups flour 1 1/2 cups water, 90 F. 1 tsp salt 1/4 tsp yeast suspended in 3 Tbl of the above water.
2) a) Mix the suspended yeast with the rest of the water b) Whisk in the flour
3) The resulting dough is quite moist and sticky. It should come away from the bowl, but still be very sticky. You may add a little more flour, mixing with a wooden spoon, but do not lose the soft sticky/wettness.
4) Cover the raw dough, and let sit at room temperature (at least 68 F or 20 C) for 12-18 hours
5) The next morning: the dough should look moist and bubbly.
6) Turn the dough out on a well-floured surface Again: Note how soft and sticky.
7) Sprinkle a little flour on the surface.
8) a) With floured fingers, lightly fold the dough over on itself twice. (Resist the need to kneed). b) lightly dust its surface with flour. Cover with a large pan and let rest for 15 minutes.
9) Generously dust a non-terry dishcloth with cornmeal, lie the dough, seam side down, on the cloth. Lightly dust the top with cornmeal.
10) Fold the cloth over the dough to cover.
11) After 1 1/2 – 2 hours, the dough should have doubled in size, is soft, and will not rebound when you press the surface with a finger.
12) Place a heavy pot (here, a Dutch oven) and its lid in the oven to pre heat.
13) Turn on the oven, set to 450 F.
14) When the oven and pot are completely heated to 450 F: a) Remove the HOT pot from the oven (CAREFUL). b) Slip your hand under the cloth and lift the dough. c) Flip the dough into the HOT pot. If it is uneven, shake pot to even out. Don’t worry
15) Cover the HOT pot with the HOT lid.
16) Place covered pot in the 450 oven. b) Set timer for 30 minutes
17) After 30 minutes, remove the lid, and bake for 10-15 more minutes, until golden brown.
18) Remove the bread from the oven, place on a cooling rack to cool, and exhale a little more moisture. [We always cut off an end or two for fresh hot pane rustico with cold butter and a little more salt. It will never be more delicious and crunchy.]
19) This bread looks and tastes very similar to the Italian “peasant” bread I have been trying to replicate for a decade or more: a) Wonderfully crusty, because of the baking in the covered pot, which maintains high moisture in the baking environment. (Yes–for me, it is counter intuitive: higher moister makes for crustier bread. I hear that some French bakers throw water into the oven to achieve high moisture) b) Large bubbles in the bread, and the texture is chewy and yellowish-translucent. YUM
