Ciabatta

I love Ciabatta bread, sliced into chunky strips and dipped in balsamic and olive oil. Until now, I’ve never tried making my own as I’ve always been put off by recipes that insist you need to make a ‘sponge’ dough the night before. I’m afraid I like instant gratification when it comes to cooking! But today I’ve had a go at a recipe for ‘quick easy ciabatta’ that I spotted on the Pease Pudding blog - that's the kind of recipe that gets my attention.  It seems peculiar when you’re making it because the dough just looks like runny pancake batter rather than normal bread dough, but it’s ok, it really is meant to! The kneading required (which had also always put me off bread-making, until I got a food mixer with a dough hook – told you I don’t like slogging when baking!) is not hard work at all and is actually pretty fun: you just stretch parts of the dough high up in the air and then slap it back down, which pushes pockets of air into the dough. It still looks pretty flat and runny when it goes into the oven, but it comes out beautifully airy. I'll definitely be making this again!

Ingredients

500g strong white bread flour

450ml luke warm water

½ tsp sugar

7g sachet dry yeast

1 ½ teaspoon salt

1 tbsp olive oil

Method

1. Place the flour, sugar and yeast in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook (or in a large bowl if kneading with your hands) and mix until combined.
2. Pour in the water, add the salt and knead for 5 minutes.
3. Use your hands to pull at parts of the dough, stretching it up high and then slapping it down again.
4. Pour the olive oil over the dough so the oil covers the top and goes down the side of the dough.
5. Allow to rise covered with lightly oiled clingfilm for about 1 hour or until it doubles in size.
6. Meanwhile, pre-heat oven to 200°C
7. Pour the dough onto a well-floured work surface (without kneading any further) and fold over like an envelope length ways to create the ciabatta shape.
8. Carefully lift the dough onto a floured baking tray and bake for 30-40 minutes, until golden. The bread is ready when it sounds hollow when you tap the base.