Ciao Bella Ciabatta Bread Recipes

TRADITIONAL ITALIAN CIABATTA BREAD

Steps:

• First make the biga, in a medium bowl combine the flour and yeast then add the water and stir to combine. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a cool dry area for 8-12 hours. If your house is on the warm side then place the biga in the fridge for 8-12 hours, remove from the fridge and let it come to room temperature for about 45-60 minutes.
• In the bowl of the stand up mixer whisk together the flour, yeast and salt, then add the water and biga. With the flat beaters mix until the mixture starts to come together for about 2-3 minutes. Then switch to the dough hook and knead for another 3 minutes. This is a soft sticky dough.
• With the help of a spatula place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm draft free area for about one hour or until doubled in bulk.
• Move the dough to floured flat surface, sprinkle the top of the dough with flour and divide into two parts. Form each part into an oblong shape, place on parchment paper that is lightly sprinkled with flour, then lightly sprinkle the dough with flour. Cover with a clean tea towel and let rise 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.
• Place a baking sheet (upside down) or a baking stone in the oven, and an empty oven proof cake pan on the bottom of the oven, then pre-heat the oven to 450F (230C)
• Before putting the dough in the oven add either a cup of boiling water or some ice cubes (about 8) in the cake pan, then quickly & carefully place the parchment paper and bread on the cookie sheet or baking stone and bake for approximately 20 minutes.Move the baked bread immediately to a wire rack to cool. Enjoy!

CIABATTA BREAD RECIPE

Steps:

• Make your starter the night before you plan to bake the bread.Mix together the yeast with 2 tablespoons of warm water. Allow it to stand for a few minutes.
• In a medium size mixing bowl stir together the yeast mixture with the flour and the water until combined. Cover with plastic wrap and allow it to sit at room temperature overnight. If preparing it in the morning then let it sit until evening and up to 24 hours.
• Use your stand mixer and combine the yeast and the warm plant milk. Let it sit for a few minutes until creamy.Add the starter, olive oil, flour, sea salt and water and mix together for about 10 minutes until everything is incorporated.
• Prepare a large bowl lightly oiled with olive oil. Transfer the bread dough to it and cover with plastic wrap. Allow it to sit until doubled in size, up to 2 hours.
• Turn the bread dough onto a well floured surface and with floured hands cut it in half. Form 2 long loaves.
• Transfer them to a parchment lined baking sheet.
• Optional step: Flour your fingers well and create dimples in the top of the loaves. Sprinkle with some flour.
• Lightly dampen a tea towel and cover the loaves. Allow them to rise again until doubled in size, up to 2 hours.
• Meanwhile preheat your oven to 425" F with a Pizza Stone in the center for 1 hour before planning to bake the bread.Transfer one of the loaves to the preheated pizza stone (together with the parchment paper) and bake for about 25 minutes until golden brown to your liking.
• Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely before slicing it with a serrated knife.

CIABATTA BREAD RECIPE

Steps:

• In a medium size bowl add water and dry yeast. Wait 10 minutes until the yeast is fully dissolved and has a "creamy' texture.
• Mix in the flour. You should get a very loose and sticky dough. It should have consistency thick enough not to come off from the spoon as, say, sour cream or greek yogurt, but wet enough so that it's impossible to knead it by hand.
• Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and let the dough rest at a room temperature for 3-4 hrs or overnight. I just don't recommend leaving biga for more than 24 hrs as the yeast will start to over-mature and loose its power.
• Once biga is rested it will become bubbly and might become even looser when you left it. Now pour lukewarm water in the bowl, going around the edges of the bowl and pouring small portions at a time. This is how we hydrate and aerate biga even more at the same time liberating it from the bowl.
• Pour biga and wate mix into a bowl of a standing mixer, oil the dough hook.Turn on your mixer on low speed, knead for a 1-2 minutes and start adding flour.
• In the last portion of flour (approx 1cup) add salt and mix it into the flour. Add to the dough.Knead on medium speed for 10 minutes. You'll notice the dough starting changing its texture. Becoming more smooth and starting to climb up the hook. Increase mixer speed to high and knead for another 10 minutes. If you mixer bowl is large enough you'll see the dough coming off the bowl sides. That's a perfect sign the dough is ready and has developed strong gluten.You would be able to tell just from the look that it's very silky and shiny.
• Transfer the dough to a big oiled bowl, so that there is enough space for the bread to double or triple.Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise at a room temperature for about 40-50 minutes.
• After the first 40-50 minutes the dough will double in size. Deep a silicon spatula in a water and start folding the dough onto itself, from the outside to the center of the bowl. You should be able to make 6-10 folds.
• Do it gently, so that the dough becomes well aerated and not deflated.Now using both hands, rise the dough from the bowl letting it fold, turn the bowl 90 degrees and fold in the same manner again. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for another 40-50 minutes.
• Repeat this last folding process once again and let the dough rest for the last 40-50 minutes.
• Once it's perfectly bubbly and screams to get out of the bowl, GENEROUSLY sprinkle the working surface with the flour. You'll regret if you wouldn't. The dough is veery sticky, but that's the secret for gorgeous light and airy ciabatta bread.
• Flip the bowl upside down and let the dough "slide" off of the bowl by itself.
• Sprinkle your scrapers and top of the dough with flour again. Constantly assisting with the scrapers give it a rectangular shape. Cut into elongated loaves or individual rolls. You can make the rolls either square or triangle and they are HEAVEN for panini.
• Generously sprinkle linen cloth with flour and using large dough scrapers transfer the bread loaves onto it. Separate each loaf with a towel fold (see the pictures) or use individual towel for each of the loaves.
• Turn on the oven to 450F while ciabatta bread rests on the towel.
• After 10-15 minutes flip ciabatta loaves over on parchment paper sprinkled with semolina or corn flour (to prevent bread from sticking).
• Just before you put the bread into the oven, spray the oven generously with cold water to create as much steam as you can. Steam really helps ciabatta bread to cook perfectly both on the inside and outside.
• Bake ciabatta for 20-25 minutes without EVER opening the oven. After 10 minutes in the oven reduce the heat to 400F. When it's golden brown, or may seem even slightly burned that is it. Your ciabatta bread has just reached its perfection and all you have left is let it cool for 15-20 on the wire rack.

CIAO BELLA CIABATTA BREAD

Steps:

• 1. The night before make the biga. The amounts are somewhat arbitrary. What you are looking for is something that looks like pancake batter. It needs to be thick but not quite a dough yet. The amounts are fairly inconsequential. Add more water or flour until your get the consistency. Cover with plastic wrap and leave overnight in a warm area. About 12 hours before you are going to mix up the rest.
• 2. The next morning: But everything but the salt into a KitchenAid or similar heavy duty mixer. Add the biga as well. Stir with the kneading attachment just until mixed-it will look like pancake batter as well. Leave for 10 minutes.(Note: You cannot do this by hand, period and you must have a heavy duty mixer)
• 3. Add the salt and crank up the mixer to high, and run for at least 10 minutes and up to 30. I found nothing much changed after 10 minutes. Please use the kneading hook. Otherwise this dough will climb up a paddle and into the machine itself. It really will! What you are looking for is this: The dough will pull away from the sides, and will climb the hook, and will pool at the bottom. Mine never comes off the bottom and I'm not sure if that is right or not, but it's just too wet.
• 4. Now, get a big old bowl, the bigger the better. Oil it (about 2 tbsp) Tear off a nice hunk of saran wrap and oil that too. Oil a spatula. (Oil everything! lol)With the oiled spatula, push the dough into the bowl. It will look like a very glossy white glue. Very very sticky, if you touch it, it will adhere to you! Cover with the plastic wrap, and then a couple towels.Place in a warm place (I can put my next to our wood stove)
• 5. Now, leave it alone! Until it has TRIPLED. Yes tripled. This can take 3 hours our 1 1/2 depending on how warm it is. It's probably close to 2 hours for most people. It will look all quivery.
• 6. Take a large area of counter and cover it will flour. Plenty. Then with an oiled spatula, push the dough out carefully, close to the counter, so as to disturb the bubbles as little as possible. Take a sieve and shake flour over the top. Then oil a knife or scraper, and divide the dough into about 3rds. Push them sufficiently apart so they don't grow together again. Cover with towels.
• 7. Heat a pizza or bread stone or upside down cookie sheet in the oven at 500 for an HOUR. Your bread is rising during this time again. At the 45 minute point, you are gonna handle the bread dough. Get two cookie sheets, or one peel.
• 8. Cover the sheets with parchment and sprinkle on some cornmeal. You are going to put one loaf on one and two on the other. Now comes the hard part. Using a large spatula or your scrapper, lift up one loaf and carefully turn it over onto your hand, supporting it with the other hand and place it on cornmealed cookie sheet. (the idea is to flip the bread over which helps to distribute the air bubbles evenly) Pull the dough to help shape, but as long as it's fairly oblong, you are good to go. Do all three.
• 9. Place the first cookie sheet with the two loaves in the oven on top of the stone or upturned cookiesheet. Bake for 20 minutes or to an internal temp of 205 degrees. Take out and put the other one in and do the same thing.
• 10. Call the media and show off your bread skills! Notes: the biga is unnecessary, but does add depth to the flavor. So use it or not as you wish. The flour is weighed. That is more accurate than measuring. Flour weighs differently depending upon humidity. By weight you are looking for about 18 oz. which is around 4 cups.