I first made Ciabatta after watching The Great British Bake Off. As you will see the shape of my Ciabattas did not come out very neatly! But it tasted good and I enjoyed making them. If you'd like to give it a go, here's what I did...
I used a Paul Hollywood recipe, which I think it is the same one the baker's used. So I started with strong white bread flour, yeast and salt in my food mixer bowl. Then I added olive oil and tepid water.
I oiled a 5 litre square tub, then set the mixture to combine with the dough hook attachment on a slow speed for a minute or two as I poured in tepid water slowly. I then turned the food mixer up to a medium speed and mixed it for 8 minutes.
When it was done the dough was very stretchy.
I poured it into the oiled tub, covered it with a tea towel, and left it to prove at room temperature for 2 hours.
It rose a lot! The 5 litre tub was almost full.
I covered my work top very generously with flour and semolina before tipping the dough out onto it. The dough 'slopped' onto the work top and it was very difficult to cut it into strips as it was so sticky and light. I had to keep sprinkling flour between the cuts I was making to make sure the pieces stayed apart.
I had to use my cake lifter to get the pieces of dough onto the baking sheet. It was a very tricky operation and left me with messy looking strips of dough. I was tempted to neaten them up, but I was terrified of pushing too much air out of them! I left them to rest for 10 minutes.
They baked for 25 minutes, until golden brown.
Obviously the shape of my ciabatta was far from perfect, but there were a decent amount of air holes when I cut into. Who knows what Paul Hollywood would think, but I was satisfied with it for a first attempt! Most importantly, it tasted good! Ciabatta is fab dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, or used as a sandwich bread filled with grilled vegetables and cheese.
Ingredients
- 500 g Strong White Bread Flour
- 10 g Fast Action Yeast
- 10 g Salt
- 40 ml Olive Oil
- 400 ml Tepid Water
- Flour & Semolina to dust
Instructions
- Put the bread flour, yeast and salt into a food mixer bowl
- Add the olive oil and 300ml of the tepid water
- Oil a 5 litre square tub
- Set the mixture to combine with the dough hook attachment on a slow speed for a minute or two
- Pour in the remaining tepid water slowly
- Turn the food mixer up to a medium speed and mix for 8 minutes
- Pour the dough into the oiled tub, cover with a tea towel, and leave to prove at room temperature for 2 hours
- Cover your work top very generously with flour and semolina before tipping the dough out onto it
- Cut into four strips without handling the dough too much
- Put the strips onto lined baking trays
- Leave to rest for 10 minutes
- Bake on 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6 for 25 minutes, until golden brown
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in a cool place and eat within 2 days
Cat
Enjoyed reading your little round up of the show. I can't say I was too sad to see Jordan go - he wasn't one of my favourites!
Your ciabatta looked really good!
Kat BakingExplorer
Thanks Cat! Glad you enjoyed the post. Yes me too, I didn't dislike him, but didn't really warm to him either.
Mummy Mishaps
you thought your ciabattas didnt look very even? I was thinking how great they looked!! i must give them a go as i do like ciabatta paninis
thank you for linking up x
Kat BakingExplorer
You are too kind! Thank you 🙂
Kate Glutenfreealchemist
I always envy bread week........ the bread looks fantastic, but it is so far from my gluten free world..... all the talk of working hard to build up the gluten.... When Paul started talking about low gluten content, my daughter laughed and said 'yeah mummy, but it's not no gluten!" Oh well...... Your Ciabatta looks lovely anyway!