No-Knead Bread with Lievito Madre

No-knead bread with 1% starter is perfect for those who do not have time to work the dough intensively but still want to bake sourdough bread regularly. This bread requires only very brief mixing, just enough to combine all ingredients, followed by a long fermentation.

Introductory Notes 🙂

• As you will see, there is nothing complicated about this recipe. However, I want to emphasize that the key to success is using a vital, fully active starter at its peak. Only a few grams of starter go into the dough, so it is essential that even this small amount is strong enough to do its job.
• As you probably know, gluten can be developed either mechanically or over time. In this recipe, we rely solely on time. The dough is not kneaded at all, neither by hand nor with a mixer. To prevent over-fermentation during gluten development, we use only a very small amount of starter, giving forcing the dough to ferment slowly and gently.

Ingredients

• 400 g wheat bread flour (for example T650 or Aidy)
• 100 g whole wheat flour
• 340 g water
  (those experienced with high hydration doughs may add more water)
• 5 g mature stiff starter (Lievito Madre) (rye sourdough or liquid wheat starter can also be used)
• 10 g salt

Method

1. Add the water to a bowl and dissolve the starter in it by rubbing it between your fingers. Mix well. Add the flour and salt and mix only until everything is evenly combined.
2. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 12–13 hours at room temperature (23–24 °C). Do not stretch or fold the dough 🙂
   The time is indicative. The dough should visibly rise but not excessively. Using a transparent container helps to observe bubble formation.
3. With wet hands, gently transfer the dough onto a floured work surface and shape it into a round. Let it rest for 10 minutes to relax the gluten. Then shape it into an oval loaf and place it seam-side up into a proofing basket.
4. Proof in the basket for approximately 3 hours. I personally prefer not to score very warm dough, so while preheating the oven, I place the basket into the refrigerator to slightly firm up the dough.
5. Bake the 1% starter bread using a classic method:
   20 minutes with steam at 250 °C, then an additional 20 minutes at 210 °C.
   Let the baked bread cool completely on a wire rack.

I must say this recipe surprised me three times: with its unconventional method, its excellent flavor, and its beautiful crumb.