Ciabatta Bread

Snowzilla came through this weekend and out of boredom, I have done a lot of baking. This ciabatta is simply delicious AND simple to make – with five ingredients you probably already have in the house. It will make two good-sized loaves of ciabatta.

Because my house is freezing in the winter –  while I mixed the dough, I boiled a pot of water on the stove to help the bread rise later. This helped in two ways – While I waited for the yeast to froth, I let the bowl of water/yeast sit next to the warm pot of boiling water.  To help the dough rise, I placed it inside the oven along with the pot of boiled water. If you have a gas oven, it should be warm enough inside the oven with just the pilot light on. In the summer, any sunny spot should do!

I love making this alongside of Robert Irvine’s Potato Leek Soup recipe. YUM!

Ingredients
5 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp dry yeast
2 cups lukewarm water
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar

  1. In 1 cup of lukewarm water, add sugar and yeast and leave in a warm spot until the yeast froths.  
  2. Place the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl and mix.
  3. Add the yeast mixture and the remaining cup of lukewarm water to the flour and mix until combined and no lumps are formed. The dough might be more batter-y than dough-y, and that’s ok.
  4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave to rest in a warm spot for about 4 hours.
  5. Grease and dust a baking sheet with flour.
  6. Beat the dough once again for a minute or two and tip onto the floured tray into two long loaves, or slipper-like shapes. 
  7. Leave to rest in a warm spot for about 30 minutes. 
  8. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 395 F for about 30 minutes or until evenly colored. When tapped, the loaf should sound hollow and feel light.
  9. Cool completely and slice before serving.

 



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