This easy No Knead Dill Bread is moist and delicious teaming up ricotta and fresh dill! Just stir it up and let it rise!
Ingredients
- Ricotta - this is a fine creamy cheese sometimes called Farmer's Cheese.
- Dill - fresh dill is what gives this bread a bright taste. You could use ½ the amount of dried dill if that is all you have.
Substitutions
- Ricotta- I would not recommend substituting another cheese for the Ricotta. Cottage cheese has much more liquid than ricotta. Goat cheese might be the right consistency but it would risk overpowering the dill. Some quick breads use sour cream to make them richer but I think the texture would be more like a cake than bread.
- Dill- You could use another fresh herb like tarragon or basil or oregano here. Rosemary is quite strong and tough so you could use 2 Tbsps but make sure to mince it very well
Chef's Tips
- No knead... doesn't get any easier. I would say this is pretty much foolproof as long as your yeast is active. As long as you have a frothy, bubbly, beige foam on your proofing water you are good to go!
- You bake this in an 8" cake pan with a 1 ½" rim. So it comes out a perfect shape to be cut into wedges. It is quite dense so it won't ever rise to a regular loaf shape.
What To Serve It With
I can vouch for serving it with this delicious Smoky Scallop Chowder.
I also slathered a wedge with my Egg Salad and it was r e a l l y g o o d !
Storage
The bread will keep well on the counter for a couple of days but then I would freeze the rest (if it lasts that long) just to be safe.
FAQs
Fresh dill is recommended but if you only have dried dill, use 2 Tbsps instead of the ¼ cup of fresh dill.
A loaf pan is not recommended. This dough is so dense it won't rise to the level of a sandwich bread so it is best to use the round pan shape.
Any fresh herb flavour you like will work here. You could substitute a mild herb like Tarragon, Basil or Oregano 1:1. I would suggest for a stronger herb like Rosemary to use only 2 Tbsps fresh, minced.
Other Related Recipes
No Knead Dill Bread
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Save Print Pin FacebookEquipment
- 1 8" round cake pan
Ingredients
- ¼ cup warm water 105-115 degrees
- 2 ¼ tsps dry yeast
- 1 cup ricotta cheese (or farmer's cottage cheese) See Notes.
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon butter melted
- ½ cup +1 tablespoon water
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ¼ cup fresh dill fronds only minced See Notes.
- 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
Instructions
- Pour warm water into a large bowl. Sprinkle yeast over and stir it. Allow to sit about 10 minutes. You should have a bubbly, foamy surface at the end of the 10 minutes.
- Stir in the ricotta cheese, dill, egg, butter, remaining water, salt and sugar. Add the flour ½ cup at a time, stirring until a semi-stiff dough forms.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise in a warm area until doubled. (About 1 hour).
- Butter an 8" cake pan with 1 ½" sides. Punch down dough, transfer to the cake pan. Shape into a 6" round.
- Let dough rise uncovered another 45 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake bread on center rack about 40-45 minutes. Dough should be golden and sound hollow when tapped. Remove from oven and transfer to a rack to cool immediately.
- Can be made ahead. When completely cool wrap in foil and then plastic and store at room temperature for 1 day. Otherwise freeze for up to 2 weeks.
- Cut into wedges to serve.
Notes
- Ricotta cheese and dry farmer's cheese are interchangeable. Do not substitute regular cottage cheese since it is too moist and chunky.
- You can substitute another mild, fresh herb like tarragon, basil or oregano 1:1 for the fresh dill. Rosemary is quite strong and sharp so I would suggest reducing fresh rosemary to 2 Tbsps and be sure to mince it really fine.
- If using a dried herb reduce the amount to 2 Tbsps.
- Do not use a regular loaf pan. This dough is dense and it will not rise like a sandwich bread. It won't rise enough in a loaf pan and therefore will ot bake through in the same way as the 8" round pan.
Brenda
Have you tried regular curd cottage cheese? Will it work instead of the farmers cheese?
thewineloverskitchen
Hi Brenda. I have not tried regular curd cottage cheese. My concern would be the texture and the fact that some of the moisture from the cheese replaces liquid in the recipe and it might not distribute evenly if in curd form. In a pinch, if you try it I would mash the curds or pulse them in a food process to approach the consistency of farmer's cheese. You would have to be careful not to overprocess it to be too liquid-y. If you try it please give us an update on how it worked.
Lois
Very good. Will make again. Thank you
thewineloverskitchen
I am glad you liked it! My pleasure to share!
Patti
When do you add the 1/2 cup plus 1 tbls of water?
thewineloverskitchen
Hi Patti. Sorry for the confusion. You mix it with the ricotta and other wet ingredients. I have updated the recipe! Thanks for asking!