Ingredients

Step by step

1. Put 225g of the flour and the yeast into a medium-sized bowl and mix well with your hand. Trickle 225ml of room-temperature water into the bowl, mixing it into the flour to make a thick and very sticky mixture. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel and leave on the worktop for 24 hours. Re-dampen the tea towel from time to time – the mixture will bubble up and expand by three or four times its original volume, and then fall back.
2. Uncover the bowl and stir in another 175ml of  water then tip the mixture into a larger bowl. Sprinkle 175g of the remaining flour plus 2 tsp salt into the bowl and work in with your hand. When it's all incorporated, work in enough of the remaining 200g flour to make a soft but not sticky dough. Turn the dough out of the bowl onto the worktop lightly dusted with flour and knead thoroughly for 10 minutes or until the dough feels very elastic and pliable (you can also knead the dough using a stand mixer and the dough hook for 5 minutes on a low speed).
3. Return the dough to the bowl and cover it tightly with clingfilm and leave to rise on the worktop until it has doubled in size – this will take 2 to 3 hours but it depends on the room temperature and the liveliness of the dough. Lightly flour your knuckle and punch down the dough to deflate it then turn the dough out onto a worktop sprinkled with flour. Gently shape the dough into a neat ball then set it in the centre of a baking tray lined with baking paper. Slip the tray into a large plastic bag then slightly inflate the bag so the plastic doesn't touch the dough and close the ends. Leave to rise and prove on the worktop until doubled in size – about 1 hour 30 minutes. Towards the end of the rising time preheat the oven to 220°C, fan 200°C fan, gas 7 and put an empty roasting tin into the bottom of the oven to heat up.
4. When the dough is ready, remove it from the bag and quickly slash the top of the loaf with a sharp knife. Put it in the hot oven. Working quickly, pour a jug of water or ice-cubes into the hot roasting tin and close the oven door. The steam produced will give a good crisp crust. Bake for 35 minutes or until the loaf is golden and sounds hollow when tapped underneath. Leave to cool on a wire rack and slice when completely cold.