TUSCAN BREAD - Salt-free Italian rustic bread

yeast

🥗Healthier: sourdough starter

💰Cheaper: baking powder

Sourdough starter adds flavor and improves texture.

olive oil

🥗Healthier: avocado oil

💰Cheaper: vegetable oil

Avocado oil offers a similar richness at a lower cost.

Put the flours in a suitable bowl, add the yeast and mix it with the rest.

Then add the oil. Stir with a fork or chopsticks until everything is mixed together, even if it is sticky.

Cover and let stand for 15 minutes.

With damp hands, take the dough and knead a little more, pulling it from the bottom up until it becomes smoother and more elastic.

Form a ball, cover and let rise for about an hour, until doubled in size.

Flour the board with semolina and gently drop the dough onto it, using the spatula to help.

Pull the dough from the sides, without squashing it, until it forms a kind of handkerchief.

Roll it on one side, turn it over and roll it on the other side, removing excess flour but not letting it get into the folds.

When you turn it over, round it up on the bottom and form it into a ball again.

Place it on a sheet of baking paper and put it back in the bowl. Leave to rest for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the oven to 200°C / 392°F. Place a heavy 9-inch diameter steel, cast-iron, or earthenware pot with a lid in the oven and heat it along with the oven.

When the oven is hot, remove the pot and place it next to the dough, remove the lid, remove the dough from the paper corners, lift it and place it in the hot pot, replace the lid and place the pot in the oven.

Bake the bread for 40 minutes, removing the lid after the first 20 minutes.

After 40 minutes, remove the pan from the oven, take the bread out of the pan and let it cool.

Cooking Techniques

Equipment Needed

Spice Level:

Dietary

Allergens