Ciabatta

Name: Ciabatta
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Yield: 6 PIECES
Cuisine: Italská kuchyně
Ingredients: 850 g all-purpose flour (350 g for starter, 500 g for dough); 25 g fresh yeast (10 g for starter, 15 g for dough); vegetable oil for greasing the bowl; 60 ml lukewarm milk; 50 ml extra virgin olive oil; 50 ml olive oil for brushing the dough; 15 g salt; plastic wrap; baking paper

6 PIECES

Under an hour

Buy all ingredients right below the recipe

INGREDIENTS FOR CIABATTA

850 g all-purpose flour (350 g for starter, 500 g for dough)
25 g fresh yeast (10 g for starter, 15 g for dough)
vegetable oil for greasing the bowl
60 ml lukewarm milk
50 ml extra virgin olive oil
50 ml olive oil for brushing the dough
15 g salt

YOU WILL ALSO NEED

plastic wrap
baking paper

BIGA STARTER PROCEDURE

1
Dissolve the yeast in 30 ml of lukewarm water.
2
Pour the flour into the stand mixer bowl and start mixing with the dough hook at medium speed. Gradually add the yeast mixture and 170 ml of lukewarm water. Mix in the stand mixer for 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.
3
Grease a bowl with oil and place the dough in it. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough mature in a warm place for 12–15 hours.

DOUGH PROCEDURE

1
In a bowl, mix the yeast with 30 ml of lukewarm water until creamy, then stir in 370 ml of lukewarm water. Combine with the biga starter.
2
Pour the milk into the stand mixer bowl, add the yeast mixture, and gradually mix in the flour. Mix the dough at higher speed in the stand mixer for 10 minutes. Then add salt and olive oil and mix for another 1 minute.
3
Brush the dough with oil, cover with a clean cloth, and let it mature in a warm place for 1–1.5 hours until it doubles in volume.
4
Flour the work surface and very carefully turn out the matured dough onto it, so it doesn't deflate.
5
With floured hands, carefully shape the dough into a rectangular sheet 2.5 cm high and divide it with a knife or pastry wheel into 6 equal rectangular pieces.
6
Preheat the oven to 220 °C.
7
Transfer all pieces to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, dust with flour, and let them rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
8
As quickly as possible, spray the oven walls with water using a spray bottle until steam begins to form. Immediately place the baking sheet with the pastries into the oven and close the oven as quickly as possible.
9
Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown, then let the finished pastries cool on a wire rack.

Tip

Biga is an Italian name for a pre-fermented wheat dough, from which various types of Italian pastries are subsequently made. For this type of pastry, steam in the oven at the beginning of baking is important. If you don't have a spray bottle, put water in a bowl and quickly spray water onto the oven walls with your fingers to create steam. The entire process must be done very quickly so that the oven does not cool down. It is equally important to quickly place the pastries in the oven while there is still steam inside.

Roman Vaněk

Together with Rohlik, we've put together a selection of the most popular recipes from my cookbooks and paired them with the right ingredients. Let us know how your meal turned out #rohlikchef