Oh, and it’s the perfect piece to add (or with which to create) to your favorite sammy!

Lemon Chive Rustic Bread

1 1/2 cups lukewarm water, plus more for the broiler tray
1 1/2 tsp. granulated yeast (active dry, instant, quick rise, or bread machine is fine)
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
3 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 Tbs. fresh chives, chopped
juice and zest of 1 fresh lemon

Warm the water just a little so that it feels just slightly warmer than body temperature. In a large bowl, mix the yeast, warm water, and salt. Add the flour all at once, then use a spoon until the flour is completely incorporated and you have a blobby dough. Fold in the chives and lemon.

Loosely cover the container and let the dough hang out at room temperature until it begins to rise and collapse or at least flatten a little on the top, about 2 hours. (Relax. It’s bread dough, not a newborn. You don’t need to monitor it constantly. And don’t worry about the dough being precisely double or triple its original volume as you would with a traditional bread recipe. Just walk away, go about your business, and come back in 2 hours. Seriously.)

After 2 hours, stash the container of dough in the fridge.

When you want to bake a loaf of artisan bread, dust a pizza stone or a baking sheet turned upside down with cornmeal or line it with parchment paper. Grab a hunk of the dough and use a serrated knife or scissors to cut off the size you’d like to bake. I divided this recipe into three loaves. 
Hold the dough in your hands and, if necessary, add just enough flour so the dough doesn’t stick to your hands. (What you’re trying to do is surround the surface of the dough with flour so that it can be handled. You are not trying to incorporate more flour into the dough, so for the love of all things good, resist the temptation to get rid of all the dough’s inherent and lovely stickiness by working the flour into the dough.) Gently stretch the surface of the dough, tucking the ends underneath the ball and rotating it a quarter turn as you go. Most of the dusting flour will fall off, and that’s okay, because as we just said, it’s not intended to be incorporated into the dough. The bottom of the ball of dough may appear to be a collection of bunched ends, but it will flatten out and adhere during resting and baking. Your round loaf of bread should be smooth and cohesive, and the entire shaping process should take no more than 20 to 40 seconds—don’t work the dough any longer or your loaves may be dense. Place the shaped ball of dough on the prepared pizza peel and let it rest for about 40 minutes. It doesn’t need to be covered. You may not see much rise during this period, but don’t fret. It will rise much more during baking.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees for at least 20 to 30 minutes.

Let the bread cool slightly before slicing and devouring.