Ciabatta Recipe

When you have a Business in Blue Jeans, you have the time and flexibility built into your schedule, so you can do fun things like baking your own bread! Here's my favorite ciabatta bread recipe- this barely makes it past the first hour in my house! It's a really versatile bread- spread butter and roasted garlic on it for a savory flavor, or spread creamed honey on it for a sweet treat.

The ciabatta recipe I use comes from The Best of Cooking Light, a great compilation cookbook from the publishers of Cooking Light Magazine. But this ciabatta tastes anything but light.

 

Part I: The Basic Sponge
You know how sourdough bread needs a sourdough starter? Well, a sponge is like a pre-fermented starter for other kinds of bread. I make the sponge 2 hours ahead to 3 days ahead. Typically, when I'm making the bread recipe, I'll make a new sponge recipe so it can sit in the fridge until I'm ready to make the next bread. I like to let it sit as long as I can, because it develops a flavor depth with more time - bread that is made from a 2-hour-old sponge tends to be a bit bland, in my opinion.

Ingredients:
1 cup bread flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1 package dry yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp)
3/4 cup very warm water (120 to 130 degrees)

1. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup and level with a knife.
2. Place the first 3 ingredients in a food processor and pulse 5 times.
   
3. Add water, process for 1 minute until well blended.
4. Spoon mixture into a medium bowl; cover and chill in the refrigerator. (Note that the Cooking Light recipe says 2-24 hours, but I've gone anywhere from 2-72 hours; just check to see if it has weird colors. Consistency-wise, it should look like a creamy-white version of Venom from the Spiderman comics.) 
5. Bring to room temperature before using (confession: I rarely let it get to room temperature; I bring it out of the fridge when I start to make the bread dough and it's whatever temperature it gets to by the time it's time to add the sponge).

Part II: Ciabatta Recipe:

Ingredients:
4 cups bread flour
Basic Sponge
1 1/4 cups warm water (100 to 110 degrees)
2 teaspoons nonfat dry milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 package dry yeast (or 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 Tablespoon cornmeal
2 Tablespoons bread flour

1. Lightly spoon 4 cups of flour into dry measuring cups and level with a knife.
2. Combine with Basic Sponge and next 4 ingredients in a food processor; process until the dough forms a ball. Process 1 additional minute.
3. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface (dough will be sticky and soft) and divide dough in half.
4. Working with one portion of the dough at a time (cover the remaining dough to keep it from drying), roll each portion into a 12 x 6-inch rectangle. Place dough on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal.
5. Taper the ends of the dough to form a "slipper" shape. Sprinkle some flour over the loaves.
6. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes or until doubled in size. (If you're not sure, press 2 fingers into the loaf. If the indentations remain, the dough has risen enough.)
7. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
8. Uncover the dough. Bake bread at 425 degrees for 25 minutes or until the loaves sound hollow when tapped. Remove the ciabatta from the baking sheet and cool on a wire rack.

Yields 2 loaves, 24 servings (serving size: 1 slice)

You can freeze one loaf for later, if it lasts long enough.

Calories: 112
Fat 0.5 g
Protein 3.8 g
Carb 22.4 g
Fiber 0.2 g
Chol 0 mg
Iron 1.4 mg
Sodium 99 mg
Calc 7 mg