No-Kneed Rustic Whole Wheat Rosemary and Olive Loaf

Bread is one of my favorite things to bake, and nothing beats the smell of a freshly baked bread in your kitchen. Here's a simple recipe that uses fresh herbs from your garden to make an effortless artisan bread — crusty on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 C bread flour
1/2 C whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp instant yeast
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 Tbsp fresh rosemary
2 Tbsp canned sliced ripe olives
2 Tbsp olive oil (plus a little more for drizzling)
1 1/2 C warm water

Directions:

Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and drizzle little olive oil on top. No need to kneed; this is a very wet dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise at room temperature for at least 12 hours. I let mine rise 18 hours. The dough will double in size and you can see all of the gluten strand come out.

 

Lightly dust the dough with flour and gently deflate the dough. Form the dough into a ball shape and place it into a benetton basket with the smooth side down. If you don't have a benetton basket, you can line a bowl with a clean towel and dust it well with flour. Because this is a very wet dough, you want it to rise in a bowl or else it will fall flat as it rises. Let it rise in a warm draft-free place for one hour. The dough will double in size.

Preheat your oven and turn the broiler on. Leave your cast iron skillet in the oven while preheating.  Flip the dough into the hot cast iron skillet and put it in the oven immediately. Spray the oven with water. This will give your bread a nice crust.

Bake it on the broiler for the first 10 minutes. Then turn it down to 400F and bake for another 25 to 30 minutes. Spray the oven again half way through baking.

You will know your bread is done when it is golden brown and it will sound hollow when you tap the bottom of the bread. Let it cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting into it.

Enjoy!