Ciabatta
For so long I was searching for a really good ciabatta recipe. I wanted to make it myself at home. I feel I succeeded, I found an excellent recipe. Making it is easy as one two three. I would describe as a light and airy dough, consuming while it is fresh and crunchy is out of this world. You don’t need to struggle for hours, just mix the ingredients, rise for an hour then rest a bit and bake. Additionally, you can prepare it the day before, store in the fridge and bake on the day, so the ciabatta become even more airy and light.
Ingredients that makes 6 pcs ciabatta:
- 185 g all-purpose flour
- 70 g semolina flour
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 5 g yeast
As foreword worth to know, to get the best consistence we should choose the longer rise time. So as it is described a bit below, cover the dough balls at the middle of the preparation process and put into the fridge for at least a night. Thus the yeast works slower and the dough will more airy. I’ve tried both versions as the author suggested, the differences can be seen on the photos. It is worth the longer time.
Preparation:
First add the sugar to the lukewarm water, it is ca.40-45°C, then sprinkle the yeast onto the top of the water. Let stand it for about 10-15 minutes, in the meantime measure the other ingredients. While it stands a bit, you will see the top of the water to e foamy and bubbly, which means the yeasty is active. Drizzle the all-purpose flour into a bowl (it helps the dough become light and airy), add the semolina flour and salt too. Mix the yeast and water than flush it into the floury bowl. Mix with a wooden spoon and the dough should be wet and tacky. Butter or oil another bowl, put the dough into, cover with kitchen clothes and let it rise in warm place at least for an hour. Remove the tacky, sticky dough (it should look like as on the pictures).
Sprinkle the work surface with semolina flour and put the dough on it. Take a sharp knife and cut it into 6 equal pieces. Form six balls. Cover a pan with baking paper and put the balls on it. Sprinkle with semolina flour. This is the point where you can choose whether you take it away for tomorrow or bake right now. If you choose to bake it on the following day, cover the balls and put into the fridge.
Preheat the oven to 220°C. Let the balls to relax on the pan for 15 minutes before baking. Bake on the lover or middle rack for 15 minutes or until it becomes golden brown, then decrease the temperature to 180°C and bake 5 more minutes. Before serving let them cool for 10 minutes.
When you take out the dough from the fridge, sprinkle the balls again with semolina flour and gently re-form them again as needed but pay attention not to flatten too much. And bake as described above.
