Stecca (No knead Italian bread)

I found such an attractive bread recipe from American bread recipe book.

Looks Italian flag.
No knead bread dough, it becomes flat bread, soft and chewy with a thin crust coated with olive oil and lightly salted. Toppings with tomatoes, olives and garlic.

No knead bread, easy to make, but you need to take your time or organize your time.
Use a litte bit of active Yeast. I made sour dough starter day before, took 12 hours(over night) for proofing the dough, 1.5 hours for second proofing.

Stecca (No knead Italian Bread)

Sour dough starter
100g High grade flour

100g Water
A pinch of active dry Yeast

Final dough300g High grade flour
3g Salt
250g Water
Sour dough starter

Topping
whole Garlic cloves, whole Olives, halved cherry Tomatoes
50g extra virgin Olive oil
Coarse sea salt


1.In a small bowl, mix all the sour dough starter ingredients until just combined. Cover the bowl and let the poolish ferment at room temperature for about 6 hours. The poolish is ready to use when the surface is creased, and pebbled with bubbles.

2.In a large bowl, combine flour,salt. Add the water and sour dough starter, and using a spatula, mix until you have a wet, sticky dough. Cover the bowl and let sit at room temperature until the surface is dotted with bubbles and the dough is more than doubled in size, 10 to 18 hours (24 hours if temperature is cold.)

3. On the floured counter, fold the dough over itself three times and gently shape it into a flattened ball. Brush the surface of the dough with some of the olive oil and sprinkle with coarse salt (which will gradually dissolve on the surface).

4. Gently place the dough into a oil-sprayed large bowl, and cover bowl with a towel. Place in a warm place to rise for 1 to 2 hours. The dough is ready when it is almost doubled. If you gently poke it with your finger, it should hold the impression. If it springs back, let it rise for another 30 minutes.

5. Half an hour before the end of the second rise, pre-heat the oven at 250℃. Oil a 13″ x 18″ x 1″ baking sheet.

6. Cut the dough into quarters. Gently stretch each piece evenly into a long, thin, baguette shape approximately the length of the pan. Place on the pan, leaving about 1 inch between the loaves. Embed the garlic cloves, olives or cherry tomatoes into the loaves.

 Brush olive oil on each loaf. Sprinkle coarse sea salt over each loaf, but dont put too much salt on the olive loaf because the olives are salty.

7. Bake For 15 to 25 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Cool on a pan for five minutes, then use a spatula to transfer the baguette to a rack to cool them down.