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
- In 1 cup of lukewarm water, add sugar and yeast and leave in a warm spot until the yeast froths.
- Place the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl and mix.
- 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.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave to rest in a warm spot for about 4 hours.
- Grease and dust a baking sheet with flour.
- Beat the dough once again for a minute or two and tip onto the floured tray into two long loaves, or slipper-like shapes.
- Leave to rest in a warm spot for about 30 minutes.
- 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.
- Cool completely and slice before serving.