Photo by Gwénaël Le Vot
Makes one loaf
4 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
12 ounces water
1 tablespoon olive oil
In a large bowl, add flour, yeast, salt and sugar and whisk to combine ingredients. Make a well in the flour and add water and olive oil. Stir, using the handle of a wooden spoon, until blended. The dough will be shaggy and sticky but will pull away from the sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic film and let dough rest 12 to 18 hours at room temperature, about 70 degrees. If your kitchen is cooler than normal, put bowl in the microwave to rest. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles.
Lightly flour a clean work surface and pour dough onto it. Sprinkle the dough with a little more flour, pat the dough down slightly, and fold the dough over onto itself two to three times. Cover loosely with plastic film and let it rest for another 15 minutes. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to the surface or your fingers, gently shape it into a ball. Generously coat a large piece of parchment paper with flour or cornmeal. Place dough, seam side down, on the parchment and cover with a cotton tea towel. Let rise another 2 hours. Dough will double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger. Score the top of dough in desired pattern using a lame or a sharp knife.
At least 30 minutes before dough is finished proofing, preheat oven to 450 F. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy pot—Dutch oven or deep cast-iron pot—into oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven and place dough on parchment into the pot. Replace the lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 minutes until loaf is golden brown. Remove from pot and cool, right side up, on a cooling rack.
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