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Ciabatta

Ciabatta

It is perhaps the most famous bread from Italy. Ciabatta is eaten for breakfast, lunch or as a side dish. Usually it is topped with a piece of cheese, some arugula and a few slices of prosciutto, mortadella or Parmesan ham. The finishing touch is a delicious homemade pesto. But it is also very tasty to dip pieces of ciabatta in a delicious garlic-olive oil or spread with herb butter, pesto or tapenade.

Preparation

  • Pour the lukewarm water into a bowl and add the yeast, stir and let it stand for 10 minutes.
  • Then put the flour in a large bowl with the salt and mix well.
  • Add the olive oil (do not mix yet).
  • Then pour in the water yeast mixture and mix everything well until you have a smooth dough It is a fairly wet dough, the ratio of water to the flour is very high so this takes some practice If it stays too wet, you can add some flour to make it more manageable.
  • The dough must now rise for one to two hours, until it has become three times as much.
  • Check if this can go in the large bowl or if not, move the mixture to a larger container, the shape doesn't matter that much. Originally the Ciabatta has a rectangular but not perfect shape After rising, sprinkle the work surface with some flour and part of the semolina.
  • Remove the dough from the bowl and divide it into the desired number of loaves or rolls without touching it too much.
  • The more air there is in the dough, the better.
  • Then sprinkle some flour with semolina over the loaves and place them on a baking tray and let them rest for another 10 minutes

In the pan or in the oven

  • Preheat the oven to 230 °C.
  • Place the loaves in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until the top is browned (this depends on the type of oven you have so keep an eye on it)
  • As with any bread, the Ciabatta is well baked if it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom Want a softer version? Then take the loaves out after 15 minutes, check if the loaves are baked well by beating Let the loaves cool down thoroughly before slicing them to avoid disappointment.

Enjoy your dinner

The homemade ciabatta is delicious with any kind of filling. Do you want to bring out the full flavor of the bread? Then use typical Italian toppings, make the pesto yourself and don't forget the olives. If you want to make something special out of it, add some sliced olives during the kneading process for an olive bread or walnuts and/or hazelnuts for a nut bread.

Ciabatta


   INGREDIENTS

For 4 Ciabattas

  • 500 g Flour
  • 10 g Salt
  • 10 g Dry yeast
  • 40 ml Olive oil
  • 400 ml Lukewarm water
  • Semolina


  
   -
   Italy
  :  1h40
  : 20 min