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Ciabatta Bread

food
5
food
235 mins
bread
side dish
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by Natasha
Published on 01 December 2022
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Ciabatta is known as the Italian version of a French Baguette. It’s crispy on the outside but chewy and bouncy on the inside. The distinct appearance of a ciabatta is its rectangular shape and big holes on the inside.

The main ingredient to having an excellent ciabatta is moisture. Yes, this dough will indeed be pretty wet and sticky. But the great thing is, you won’t need any big equipment to make this bread. All hand-made and without much kneading either.

The ciabatta is always best consumed hot, so always remember to toast it before serving. You can use an oven, toaster or just a pan skillet would be great! It’s a versatile bread that you can use as toast with butter or a sandwich like a panini.

Baking the Ciabatta

Unlike regular bread, ciabatta is more rustic, meaning a bit crunchy on the outside and more soft and chewy on the inside.

The only ingredients you will need for this ciabatta recipe are bread flour, water, yeast, salt and olive oil. You just need time and patience to make this. Otherwise, everything else is fairly easy!

The dough will need about three fermentation times, this way, the gluten will develop more and will be easier to work with. This dough, keep in mind, will be quite sticky for you to work with, you will need to keep your hands wet and the work surface wet, pretty much at all times.

Autolyse and Lamination Method

The first step to making the ciabatta dough is to go through a method called autolyse. Autolyse is the method of mixing flour and water, following a 30-minute resting period. An autolyse is essential because it cuts down the time you need to work on the dough. Autolyse will give the flour time to absorb moisture from the water. What it also does is it increases flexibility and ultimately improves the quality of the ciabatta.

After autolyse, the ciabatta will then go through the lamination process. Lamination for the ciabatta dough is quite different from pastry lamination. It will involve folding the dough but in a specific way.

The ciabatta will first be stretched out as thin as possible, then it will go through what’s called a letter fold. A letter fold is when you take one side and fold to the middle and the other side over the other. Once this is done, roll the dough up into itself. This is a way to build strength into the dough as it will agitate the gluten strands within the dough.

If you ever need to learn about bread making, this recipe is a must on your list. It has simple ingredients but you can learn so much technique. And once you’re done, you will have the most amazing Italian bread!

**Some tips that might be useful:

  • If you have done all the steps correctly up to step 14, the dough should come out of the bowl easily.
  • Be careful not to work the dough too much as it will lose most of the air in the dough if you agitate it too much.
  • Always make sure your hands are wet when working with this dough as it will be extremely sticky.

Some terms you might need to know:

Ciabatta Bread

by Natasha
servings
4 people
prep time
215 mins
dish type
Bread
cook time
20 mins
course
Side dish
total time
235 mins

ingredients

  • for the ciabatta dough

    • 90 mlwarm water
    • 125 grambread flour
    • 10 mlwarm water(for yeast mixture)
    • 0.25 tspyeast
    • 5 gramsalt
    • 10 gramolive oil(for yeast mixture)

  • for extras

    • 20 gramflour(as needed, for dusting)
    • 10 gramolive oil(as needed, for greasing bowl)
    • 50 mlwater(as needed, for working on the dough and work surface)
    • 30 mlhot water(as needed, for steam bowl)

instructions

Making the ciabatta dough

  1. In a bowl, add your bread flour and warm water together and mix with a spatula until it forms a dough.
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  2. Now cover the bowl with cling wrap and let the dough rest for 30 mins. This method is called autolyse.
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  3. While waiting, in another bowl, add your warm water (for the yeast) and yeast together. Mix until the yeast fully dissolves. Set aside for 5 mins.
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  4. Now add the olive oil (for the yeast mixture) to the yeast mixture.
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  5. After the dough has rested for 30 minutes, add the yeast mixture and salt to the dough.
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  6. Mix and squeeze lightly with wet hands until the dough is shaggy and wet.
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  7. Now add olive oil (for greasing) to a clean bowl.
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  8. Add the dough to the bowl with olive oil. Cover the bowl and let it rest for 30 mins.
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  9. Wet your hands and pull the dough to stretch it and fold the dough over on one side, while turning the bowl 90 degrees each time. Do this to a total of four times until all four sides are done.
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  10. Take your hands and roll the dough into a ball in the bowl and repeat this four times.
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  11. Cover with cling wrap and let the dough rest for 30 mins.
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  12. Spray the work surface with water, generously. (Remember to continuously wet your hands) Place the dough onto the wet work surface and pull and stretch the dough until a flat dough forms. Fold one side to the middle and fold the second side all the way over the first side. Grab the bottom and roll it over itself.
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  13. Scoop the dough into a ball and place it back into the bowl. Cover the bowl and let rest for 60 mins.
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  14. Dust the work surface with some flour.
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  15. Dust the top of the dough with some flour and gently place the dough onto the work surface.
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  16. Dust the top of the dough with more flour and shape the dough into a rough rectangle.
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  17. Dust more flour onto baking paper and gently grab the dough with a bench scraper underneath and place it onto the baking paper. Shape it back to a rectangle if needed.
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  18. Cover the dough with a damp towel and let it rest for 30 mins.
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  19. Preheat the oven at 250 C.
  20. Grab a heat-proof bowl or ramekin and add hot water.
  21. Place the baking paper with the dough onto a baking tray, carefully.
  22. Add the steam bowl to the baking tray and bake the dough for 20 mins. or until it turns dark brown.
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  23. When it’s done baking, cool the dough for 15 mins. before serving.
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  24. Now slice your bread and enjoy!
bread
side dish
loaf
ciabatta
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Natasha
Bake it till you make it!