Ciabatta
Ingredients
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- 6 ounces water – for biga
- 1/4 tsp instant yeast – for biga
- 10 ounces bread flour – for biga
- 14 1/2 ounces water – for dough
- 1/2 tsp instant yeast – for dough
- 16 ounces bread flour – for dough
- 2 1/2 tsp fine sea salt – for dough
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil – for dough
- semolina flour – for dusting
- all-purpose flour – for dusting
- 1 cup water – for steam in oven
Instructions
1. Make the biga: In a medium bowl, stir together the water for the biga and the instant yeast for the biga until dissolved. Add the bread flour for the biga and mix until no dry spots remain; the dough will be stiff. Cover and ferment at cool room temperature 12–16 hours, until domed, aromatic, and riddled with bubbles.
2. Mix the final dough: In a large bowl or the bowl of a mixer, combine the water for the dough and the instant yeast for the dough. Tear the biga into small pieces into the bowl, add the bread flour for the dough, and mix until a shaggy, sticky mass forms. Rest 20 minutes.
3. Add the fine sea salt for the dough and the extra-virgin olive oil for the dough. Mix on medium-low (or by hand with a wet hand) for 3–4 minutes until the dough is smoother, elastic, and very sticky.
4. First rise with folds: Transfer the dough to a damp, clean container. Let rest 30 minutes, then with wet hands perform a set of stretch-and-folds (lift and fold the dough from all four sides). Repeat the rest-and-fold cycle 3 more times at 30-minute intervals, for 2–2.5 hours total, until the dough has risen about 50% and shows a webby, bubbly structure.
5. Preheat the oven 45 minutes before baking to 475°F with a baking stone or steel on the middle rack and a sturdy empty metal pan on a lower rack for steam.
6. Generously dust a sheet of parchment and your work surface with the semolina flour for dusting and the all-purpose flour for dusting. Gently tip the dough onto the floured surface and dust the top.
7. Shape with a light touch: Pat the dough into a thick rectangle without deflating. Using a floured bench knife, cut it into 2 equal rectangles. With floured hands, gently stretch each piece into a slipper shape about 10–12 inches long, preserving the bubbles.
8. Proof: Arrange the shaped pieces seam-side down on the floured parchment, spacing well. Cover lightly and proof 45–60 minutes, until puffy, jiggly, and slightly enlarged.
9. Steam and bake: Slide the parchment with the loaves onto the preheated stone. Carefully pour the water for steam in oven into the hot pan and close the door. Bake 22–28 minutes, rotating once, until deep golden brown and the loaves register 205–210°F in the center.
10. Cool completely on a rack for at least 1 hour before slicing so the crumb sets.
Ciabatta is an Italian lean bread known for its thin, shattering crust and a moist, glossy crumb riddled with large, irregular holes. The flavor is wheaty and gently tangy from long fermentation, with a chewy, elastic bite that makes it ideal for sandwiches or for tearing and dipping in olive oil. Its high hydration and minimal shaping preserve big internal bubbles, giving the loaf its characteristic open structure and signature slipper-like profile.
Despite its rustic look, ciabatta is relatively modern. It was developed in 1982 in Veneto by baker Arnaldo Cavallari as an Italian answer to the popularity of the French baguette. The name means “slipper,” a nod to its shape. From the North of Italy it spread rapidly throughout the country and then internationally, with formulas often built on a biga pre-ferment and medium-strong flours (tipo 0 or bread flour) to achieve strength and openness.