Pane Bianco

This dough comes together in five minutes or less and requires no kneading. The secret to achieving this bakery-worthy loaf? A hot Dutch oven that traps the heat and moisture inside producing a crisp crust that shatters when you cut it and a pillowy soft interior.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup warm water

• 1 1/2 tsp. quick-rise instant dry yeast

• 1 1/2 tsp. salt

• 1 tsp. olive oil

• 3 cups all-purpose flour

• 3 Tbsp. cornmeal (for baking)

Directions:

Combine water, yeast, salt, and olive oil in a large bowl. Let sit until yeast has dissolved and small bubbles have formed on the surface, about 5 minutes. Add flour and stir until combined. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, at least two hours up to 12 hours.

Place a 6-8 quart dutch oven with its top on the lower third rack of the oven and preheat to 500° F. Meanwhile, dust your hands with flour and transfer dough to a piece of parchment paper, quickly stretching the dough and tucking the edges underneath to make a round shape. (Make sure not to handle the dough to much - you just want to create some tension across the top and quickly shape, but don’t worry if it’s not perfectly round.) Using a sharp knife, score the dough as desired.

Once the oven reaches 500°F, remove the pot from the oven take off the lid. Gently pick up the edges of the parchment paper and transfer the dough to the pot with the parchment paper on the bottom. Cover and bake for 40 minutes. Remove lid and carefully slide out parchment paper and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool.