Ingredients
Method
- Whisk the flour, salt and yeast together in a large bowl. Pour in the water and mix with a spoon or your hand until no dry flour remains. The dough will be shaggy and sticky, and that is correct - do not knead it.
- Cover the bowl and leave it on the counter for 12 to 18 hours, until the surface is domed and pocked with bubbles. Overnight is the point of the name.
- Scrape the dough onto a well-floured surface. Fold it over on itself four times, turning the bowl a quarter turn between folds, then shape it into a rough ball.
- Set the ball seam side down on a square of floured baking paper, cover it with a tea towel and leave it to prove for 1 to 2 hours, until it no longer springs back when poked.
- Half an hour before the prove ends, put a lidded cast-iron pot into the oven and heat it to 240C.
- Lift the dough into the hot pot using the paper as a sling. Slash the top once with a sharp knife, put the lid on and bake for 30 minutes.
- Take the lid off and bake for another 15 minutes, until the crust is deep brown.
- Turn the loaf out onto a rack and leave it for at least an hour. Cutting it warm gums up the crumb, and you will hear the crust crackle as it cools.