Ciabatta

Ciabatta is an Italian bread that comes with extra hydration. It is one-of-a-kind bread. You can serve it as a special side with many popular curries to savor.

Let’s have a look at how it’s made!

Health Benefits

Ciabatta is a treat for your taste buds. However, it is not very high on the list of healthy foods. Therefore, it must be eaten in moderation. You can enjoy it will all kinds of gravies and even on its own. It is too delicious to miss out on!

Ingredients

all-purpose flour: 3/4 cups

bread flour: 1 1/2 cups

water: 1 1/4

active dry yeast: 1/2 tsp

all-purpose flour: 1 1/2 cups

bread flour: 3 cups

water: 1 1/2 cups

active dry yeast: 3/4 tsp

Sugar: 1/2 tsp

salt: 1 heaping tablespoon

drum flour as needed

How To Make Ciabatta

For the Poolish

1. Take a large mixing bowl.
2. Mix both types of flours in it.
3. Now add yeast into the water and stir until it is dissolved.
4. Pour the yeast filled water into the mixing bowl.
5. Stir for at least 5 minutes until it turns into a soft batter.
6. Cover up the batter with food wrap and set it aside on room temperature for at least 3 hours.

For the Dough

1. After 3 hours, pour the poolish into an even larger mixing bowl.
2. Mix yeast and sugar into the water and dissolve it well.
3. Add both the types of flours, water and salt into the mixing bowl with the poolish.
4. Knead the mixture until it turns into a soft batter.
5. Cover the bowl with food wrap and set it aside for an hour.
6. After an hour, sprinkle some Durum flour on a flat surface.
7. Pour the dough on top of the flour.
8. Use the dry flour to keep the dough from sticking to the surface.
9. Fold it from all four sides.
10. Now divide it into 10 loaves.
11. Sprinkle more dry flour over the loaves to make sure they do not stick to the platform.
12. Cover up the pieces with food wrap and set aside for an hour and half.

To Bake the Ciabatta

1. After an hour, take a wooden baking sheet and place a paper sheet over it.
2. Place two or three loaves of bread on the baking sheet using a dough scraper. Stretch it out a bit to make sure it does not lose the water trapped inside it.
3. Preheat the oven at 450 degrees and spray it with water 4 to 5 times before you begin baking.
4. First bake the dough loaves at 165 to 180 degrees for 8 minutes. Then lower it to 350 to 390 degrees and bake for another 8 minutes.
5. In the last 4 minutes of baking, hold the oven door open by sticking a wooden spoon in the door so that excess heat can escape easily.
6. Once, it is done, serve hot with your favorite gravies and curries!

Trivia

• Ciabatta literally means ‘slipper’. This bread is known as Ciabatta as its shape resembles a slipper.
• It is the extra hydration bread with more water in its pours than any other.

It looks very heavy but in reality it is quite light.