Italian country bread

Ingredients:

For the dough

• Water - 1 1/4 cups
• Bread flour – 3.5 cups
• Instant yeast - 1/8 teaspoon
• Salt - 1/2 tablespoon

For the test

• Whole wheat flour or rye flour (or a mixture of both) – 1.5 cups
• Bread flour – 2.5 cups
• Salt - 1/2 tablespoon
• Water – 1.5 cups
• Instant yeast - 1/2 teaspoon

Preparation:

1. Place yeast in water and stir.
2. Mix flour and salt in a bowl, pour in the yeast mixture, stir thoroughly, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave to ferment at room temperature overnight.
3. Mix the remaining ingredients, combine them with the dough, and knead thoroughly for 10 minutes. You'll notice some color variations in the dough, but this won't be noticeable once the bread is ready.
4. Place the dough back in the greased bowl and let it rest for two and a half hours, periodically removing it and hitting it on the work surface to promote gluten development.
5. At the end of fermentation, divide the dough into two parts, roll into a ball, cover with a clean towel, and leave for an hour to form the final shape.
6. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius. If you're using a baking stone, preheat that as well.
7. Before placing the loaves in the oven, to form the correct crust, spray them with hot water from a spray bottle.
8. After 20 minutes of baking, rotate the loaves 180 degrees and reduce the oven temperature to 200 degrees, bake for another 35 minutes.