Ciabatta bread EN

 

This bread has an easy technique but it takes time.

We need about 4 hours to make it. Of course, the rising takes more time and we will work with the bread for a short time. This technique is also a bit delicate, but it is relatively easy. Ideally, we will need a good mixer, but it can certainly be done without it, except that we will need much more time for the first rising of the dough (at least 3 hours more).

The dough will be very wet and will stick to your hands but even for that there is a solution. I will try to explain it as best as possible so that it is understood and there are no gaps in the preparation.

After some mishaps with dry yeast (where my dough didn't rise) I make sure it's active by mixing it with lukewarm water and sugar. After 10' it should have foamed, if not I just don't use it! If you are sure that your yeast is active, skip the 10' and continue normally with the rest of the recipe.

Ingredients:

500g all-purpose flour

50g olive oil

380g lukewarm water

1 teaspoon of sugar

1 sachet of dry yeast 8-9g

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

In a bowl, mix the lukewarm water (be careful not more than 30°-35°C, I would say even colder! It's better to take a while to rise than to burn it), the sugar and the yeast. Leave the yeast for ten minutes to foam and if you see that it does not foam, simply do not use it.

If you are not using a mixer, put all the ingredients except the salt in a large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon for at least 5'. Leave the bowl covered for at least 3 hours outside the refrigerator or overnight in the refrigerator to rise. Remove from the refrigerator and let the dough come to room temperature. Add the salt and knead with a wooden spoon for at least 5'.

If using a mixer, add all the ingredients except the salt to the bowl and knead with the hook for 5' at medium to high speed. Add the salt and continue kneading for another 5 minutes.

Grease a large and wide metal bowl or a 32cm diameter pan and transfer the dough there. I say open bowl or pan because we want to have a spread dough in the end and we can't stretch it too much. I also prefer a metal bowl or pan because the dough doesn't stick as much to the metal. Cover with cling film and let the dough rise for 45'.

We dip our hands in water (lukewarm) and fold the dough 2 -3 times carefully because we don't want it to lose much of its volume. The water helps the dough not stick to our hands. Carefully spread the dough a little to make it as wide as possible. Cover and let it rise for another 45'.

Fold the dough a total of 3 times, leaving 45' in between to rise.

After the last folding, let the dough rise for 40'.

Pour the risen dough onto a floured surface. Flour the surface of the dough well, extend it as much as we can without deflating it and cut it in half with a metal spatula.

We can bake 2 large loaves or cut into small loaves. I usually bake 1 large loaf and cut the other half into 6 loaves.

Transfer the loaves to parchment paper if you have a bread shovel, or to a baking tray lined with parchment paper if you don't have one, leaving some space between them. Cover with tea towels and leave to rise for 30'.

Preheat the oven at 220°C/fan for 30' with 2 baking stones placed on the first shelf and on the third. If we don't have baking stones, it doesn't matter. The bread will also be baked very well in the pan. We also place a metal bowl of water on the base of the oven to help the bread rise.

Transfer the bread with the pans or with the shovel (with the parchment paper) to the hot oven and bake for 20'.

Remove the bowl of water and continue cooking for about 5-10 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for at least 30'.

Bon appetit!!