I can’t remember the last time I bought a loaf of bread. After discovering Jim Lahey’s recipe for no-knead bread, there’s no reason for me to. The dough comes together in seconds and after an overnight rise, it’s ready to shape and bake.
I made this hearty loaf – filled with steel cut oats and millet – last week to go with a batch of speedy spinach lasagna. Because of its dense crumb, it’s not ideal for making sandwiches or French toast, but it was good for wiping up the extra tomato sauce and creamy ricotta filling left on our plates after dinner. And in all honesty, I ended up eating most of it plain – simply toasted, smeared with butter and sprinkled with a bit of salt. For me, it is what steak is to a meat lover – firm, flavorful and filling.
Recipe adapted from Nature and Life Notes.
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup whole wheat flour
- 1¾ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon active dry yeast
- ½ cup steel cut oats (uncooked)
- ¼ cup millet
- 1⅓ cups water
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- In a large bowl, combine the flours, salt and yeast. Add the oats and millet.
- Add water and vinegar to the flour mixture, stirring everything until it comes together to form a shaggy ball. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in a warm place to rise for 16-20 hours.
- After 16-20 hours, turn the dough out onto a floured work surface. Gently and quickly shape dough into a ball by taking the ends of the dough and folding them into the middle.
- Place dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, cover it (an inverted large bowl works well) and let it rise for 2 hours until doubled in size.
- At least 30 minutes before dough has finished rising, preheat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel or ceramic) in oven as it heats.
- When dough has finished rising, carefully remove pot from the oven. Use the parchment paper to lift and place the dough (with the parchment paper) in the pot.
- Cover with lid and bake for 30 minutes. Then remove lid and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes until loaf is browned. Let cool on a wire rack before slicing and serving.
