TRADITIONAL ITALIAN RECIPE: This straightforward ciabatta recipe is relatively easy and satisfying to make.
Before you make this authentic ciabatta recipe, understand that ciabatta dough can be tricky to handle correctly.
The ciabatta dough is wet. Incredibly wet. It will stick to your hands. It will stick to your work surface. It will stick to everything it comes in contact with. That’s okay. Don’t add extra flour or you’ll get disappointing results. Just rest assured that, as you make the ciabatta dough again and again, you’ll become practiced in how to handle it.
Here, a few tips sometimes people follow:
- Weigh the ingredients.
If you pack flour into the measuring cup, it will come out weighing substantially more than what you expect or that the recipe intends. If you must measure it by volume, first pour it into a bowl, stir it to aerate it, and then scoop it into the measuring cup.
- Have a bowl of water nearby when you’re shaping the dough.
Wet dough won’t stick to wet hands, so dip your hands in the water before you scoop up the dough. You can also dip your dough scraper into the water and then use it to cut the dough into 4 portions. Wet your hands before you roll the dough into a cylinder so it won’t stick as much. And then, with those wet hands, pull it into the rectangular shape.
- Do NOT worry if the loaves look flat and unpromising.
Here’s what Field has to say on the topic. “Trust me when I say they will rise on the floured pieces of parchment paper, even though they certainly don’t look as if they will. Let them rise until they’re puffy but not doubled. They still won’t look as if they will be anything you could believe in. If the thought of turning the little loaves over onto the baking stone is too daunting, you can put them still on their parchment paper straight onto the stone without turning them over. You’ll miss the veining of flour that makes the loaves look so attractive, but you might gain confidence this time and then be bold enough to try turning them over the next time.”
- This recipe should be made in a stand mixer.
It can be made in a food processor. I have made it by hand, but I wouldn’t recommend it. (The natural inclination is to add lots of flour to this very sticky dough, and pretty soon you won’t have ciabatta. Just follow the instructions. The dough will feel utterly unfamiliar and probably a bit scary. And that’s not the only unusual feature: the shaped loaves are flat and look definitely unpromising. Even when they are puffed after the second rise, you may feel certain you’ve done it all wrong. Don’t give up. The bread rises nicely in the oven.
- Follow the recipe.
It’s written by a baker with untold experience baking bread and seeing home cooks through the inevitable learning curve that comes with handling Italian bread dough, which is much different and wetter to work with than the standard American bread dough. Trust us. When you heed her words, you’ll make it through this recipe recipe with ease and grace—or as close to grace as you can manage when you’ve got flour smudged on your nose and bread dough clinging to your fingers. We also suggest you take a look at the comments beneath ( if present ) the recipe from others who, like you, were curious about trying their hand at this bread so you can learn from their collective experience, tactics, and techniques.
Serve this thin-crusted, light-textured bread warm for breakfast, with soups or salads, or split, toasted and filled with salami, prosciutto or cheese for an Italian-style sandwich.
Skill Level:  |
Time: 5 Hours |
Price:  |
Makes: 10 Pieces |
Ingredients:
| Conversions |
Directions:
For the Pre-Fermented Dough:
01 - In a bowl, combine the 2 Flours.
02 - In another bowl, dissolve the Yeast into the Water.
03 - Combine the two bowls and mix everything well for about 5 minutes.
04 - Cover with cling film and allow to rest for about 3 hours at room temperature. The wet dough
will be full with bubbles, that's how we expect it to be. Don't worry.
For the Dough:
01 - In a bowl dissolve Yeast and Malt in the Water.
02 - Now, using an electric mixer, combine the flours, the Water mixture and the pre-fermented
dough until a bigger and tougher dough clumps around the paddle.
03 - If you can, replace the standard paddles with the "dough hook" ones, add the salt and keep
mixing the dough for 10 extra minutes. If you can't change the paddles, mix for 12 minutes or until
the dough is smooth and elastic.
04 - Cover the bowl with cling film and allow to rise at room temperature for an hour.
05 - Dust the work surface with durum flour.
06 - Stretch the dough open and fold it. Stretch one half and fold it over. And do the same with the
opposite side, repeating this for 10 - 15 times.
Make sure your countertop is well dusted with durum flour. To avoid sticking, feel free to use a
dough scraper.
07 - Preheat the oven at 250C / 480F.
08 - Divide the dough into 10 pieces, or smaller pieces depending on how big you want your loaves
to be.
09 - Place all the loaves on a tray, dust everything with durum flour on top. Cover with cling film
and allow to rise for 1 hour and a half at room temperature.
10 - Lay a sheet of parchment paper on a thin wooden board, or a baking stone ( placed on the
bottom of the oven ).
11 - Spray some water on the oven walls before closing the oven door.
12 - Place the doughs on the parchment paper and cook them for 8 minutes at 250C / 480F.
13 - Lower the temperature to 180C and bake for another 8 minutes. 4 minutes before the
end let the steam escape by placing a wooden spoon in the opening of the oven. This will give the
bread a nice crispy top.
14 - Transfer the loaves to a wire rack and let them cool.
      |
| Written by: Uncut Recipes | Disclaimer |
| YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: |
| LATEST RECIPES: |
