Create Perfectly Delicious Authentic Italian Ciabatta at Home | Crusty and Soft on the Inside
If you’re looking for a way to transport yourself straight to an Italian bakery, look no further than making Ciabatta bread at home. Ciabatta is an iconic Italian bread, and with its signature oval shape and distinctive crusty exterior, it looks just as good as it tastes! Nothing is quite like the smell of freshly baked bread wafting through your kitchen. This recipe will teach you how to make the perfect homemade ciabatta to experience the wonders of fresh-baked Italian bread without buying a plane ticket!
As much as we love the taste and texture of ciabatta bread, we are also fond of its history. It is incredible to think that something as prevalent worldwide has its roots in just one small country, Italy. It is an extraordinary testament to human inventiveness, creativity, and the world's eagerness to share different cultures. This artisanal bread will continue to inspire generations of bakers for many years. From my kitchen table to restaurant patios across the globe, I'm sure many more recipes will be created using ciabatta bread to enjoy!
Here’s Why You’ll Love This Recipe
The authentic taste and texture will transport you to Italy.
The holes inside the ciabatta rolls are a perfect size, allowing various toppings.
The exterior is thin and crunchy, just as a ciabatta should be, and the inside is soft, chewy, and light.
Create Perfectly Delicious Authentic Italian Ciabatta at Home | Crusty and Soft on the Inside
Ingredients
Instructions
- What is a Poolish? A poolish is a type of pre-ferment used in Italian and French bread baking. It is made by combining equal parts flour and water with a small amount of yeast and allowing it to ferment for several hours. This process helps to develop the flavor and texture of the final bread product and extend the lifespan of the bread. A poolish also makes bread taste slightly sweet and nutty, giving loaves of bread a crispy, thin crust.
- Place the warmed water, flour, and dry yeast into the bowl of your stand mixer and mix very well with a spatula.
- Let the poolish rest and ferment in the stand mixer for 3 hours.
- When the poolish has finished fermenting for 3 hours, add 384 milliliters of room temperature water and mix it well.
- Add the salt, followed by the flour, and mix it on medium speed using the dough hook attachment on your stand mixer for 10 minutes. The dough will go from a sticky to a smooth-looking ball with perfect gluten development that moves freely around the dough hook.
- Lift the dough out of the bowl of your stand mixer momentarily and grease the inside of the bowl with some olive oil before placing the dough back inside.
- Cover the bowl well with a universal silicone suction lid or plastic wrap and let it rise at room temperature for 2 hours.
- After two hours, place the dough directly into the fridge for at least 12 hours or up to 48 hours, do not punch it down before putting it into the refrigerator. Leave it as is until the following day.
- The next day take the dough out of the refrigerator and weigh the dough.
- Divide the weight of the dough by ten if you want to turn the recipe into rolls or by two if you want to make two sizeable rectangular ciabatta rolls that can be sliced like bread.
- Roll each dough ball up tightly by pulling the dough toward your body with a cupped palm on an un-floured countertop. Keep doing this until the dough is smooth and uniform, and then place it onto a liberally floured countertop area about 2 inches away from the others and lightly dust with more flour. Repeat this step with the remaining pieces of dough.
- Let the dough rise, covered with a tea towel for 2 hours.
- After 2 hours, place a sheet pan on the bottom rack of your oven and preheat your oven to 425°F.
- Gently lift each roll from the counter using a dough scraper, and stretch each roll with your fingers into a roughly rectangular shape about 1/4-1/2 inch thick, careful not to deflate the air inside them. The rolls will vary in thickness throughout due to the air bubbles inside the dough. This is normal.
- Transfer them to a parchment-lined baking sheet and place four rolls on a sheet tray. The top of the rolls will be slightly dry from resting on the counter for two hours, so make sure to put them dry side down on the parchment paper.
- Let the rolls rise, and cover again for one more hour before baking.
- Place the ciabatta rolls, one tray at a time, onto the middle rack of the oven only and immediately place two handfuls of ice onto the preheated lower baking tray.
- Bake the rolls for 25 minutes or until golden brown, and repeat the process for the next two trays of ciabatta rolls.
- Place the baked rolls onto a cooling rack and let them cool completely before cutting them open. If you want the crusts soft, a nice trick is to use a tea towel over them as they are cooling, but if not, let them cool completely while uncovered.
Notes
Fillings: You can add different fillings to your ciabatta rolls during the kneading phase in the stand mixer, such as a chopped of sliced olives.
Nutrition Facts
Calories
207.82Fat
0.97 gSat. Fat
0.14 gCarbs
41.68 gFiber
1.46 gNet carbs
40.23 gSugar
0.18 gProtein
6.99 gSodium
507.32 mgCholesterol
0 mgPlease note that the nutritional information on this website is calculated using online tools and may need to be more accurate. Use it as a rough guide only. We cannot be held responsible for any loss or damage caused by relying solely on this data. You are responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information you use is accurate and useful. For more information, click here.
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