Italian Ciabatta bread has long been loved by Russians. It is so convenient to cook grilled sandwiches, croutons and crackers for serving with various sauces! If you are interested in how to cook ciabatta at home, then read this article. We will share with you the secrets of its preparation, as well as describe some of the most popular recipes.
Ciabatta Recipe At Home
If you decide to cook this fragrant Italian bread according to all the rules of culinary art, then be patient and approach the cooking process as seriously as possible. Cooking ciabatta at home:
- Mix 450 grams of flour with one teaspoon of salt and dry yeast (ten grams). To make dry ingredients blend better, sift them through a sieve.
- Pour 350 grams of room temperature water into a bowl and mix with flour.
- Cover the dough with a towel and leave to roam for 12 hours. It will be better if you put the dough in the evening. In this case, you can serve fresh, fragrant bread directly from the oven for breakfast.
- Sprinkle the working surface of the table with flour and put the dough on it. Be careful - it will be quite sticky and thin.
- Wrap the edges of the dough in the center so that it resembles a loaf. Repeat the procedure several times. Once the dough has a dense structure, divide it into two equal parts.
- Gently stretch the workpieces by hand so that each acquires a rectangular shape (10 by 20 cm).
- Put the future bread on a wafer towel, densely sprinkled with flour, cover with a second towel and let stand for one hour.
- Preheat the oven, cover the pan with parchment and carefully transfer the ciabatta to it. For steam to form in the oven, spray water in it with a spray gun.
After half an hour, when the bread is sufficiently browned, turn off the oven and call your family to the table.
Ciabatta bread at home (with filling)
The preparation of this bread will not cause difficulties for an experienced hostess. However, you should pay attention to some of the nuances of this recipe. So, how is real Italian ciabatta made at home? The process is as follows:
- For dough, mix 100 grams of flour, one bag of yeast, 200 ml of water and 30 grams of sugar.
- When the base is ready, leave it to rise for 12 hours (under a towel) at room temperature.
- When the time is right, pour 450 ml of water into the dough, add 15 grams of salt and 900 grams of flour. Knead the dough, not forgetting to add a little vegetable oil to it.
- While the dough rises, prepare the filling. This can be fried onions, dried herbs (for example, oregano or basil), capers and sun-dried tomatoes, olives.
- Divide the finished dough into three equal parts and knead each, adding the filling. Form three loaves and let them stand under the cloth for about an hour.
- Bake bread in a preheated oven for about ten minutes.
Ciabatta with cheese
Cooking ciabatta at home can be a creative process for you. Try making bread with cheese - and your loved ones will definitely appreciate the new dish. For this:
- Mix in a deep bowl 450 grams of flour, 300 ml of water, half a teaspoon of salt and a bag of yeast. Leave the dough (as usual) for 12 hours.
- 50 grams of feta cheese (you can take Adyghe or feta cheese), cut into cubes or crush into crumbs with your hands.
- Sprinkle the table with flour, put the dough on it, and evenly sprinkle cheese on top. Wrap the edges of the workpiece in the middle, cut it in half, cover with a thick cloth and leave it alone for an hour.
- When the ciabatta rises, carefully place it on a baking sheet covered with parchment. Pour some water into another pan and place it in a preheated oven.
After half an hour, the bread will get a golden brown and will be ready. Serve it to the table with aromatic sauces or make it the basis for sandwiches.
Ciabatta with herbs and garlic
This recipe was invented specifically for those cases when a tasty and fragrant bread was left out of work and became stale. You can correct this situation with the help of small tricks. Spicy ciabatta at home is prepared as follows:
- Cut the dried loaf with a knife from above, without touching the base, along and several times across.
- Spread the olive oil evenly over the entire surface of the bread.
- Grind parsley, rosemary and oregano. Pass the garlic through a press, combine it with herbs, ground pepper and olive oil.
- Grate the ciabatta with the resulting mixture inside and out.
- Crumple a piece of parchment that is suitable in size, soak it in water and wrap bread in it. In this form, the ciabatta should be in the oven for about ten minutes.
Conclusion
As you can see, Italian ciabatta at home is not so difficult to prepare. The main thing is to choose your favorite recipe and get down to business.