Ciabatta
Ciabatta is more air than bread, and the secret is a very wet dough plus an overnight preferment called a poolish. The dough looks alarmingly sticky at first, but you never knead it; a few sets of folds do all the work. We love splitting a still-warm loaf and drizzling it with olive oil.
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Rest
- 15 h 25 min
- Total
- 16 h 20 min
- Servings
- 8
- Level
- Challenging
- Per serving
- 230 kcal
Ingredients
For the poolish
For the dough
Makes: 2 loaves (28 cm each), 8 portions
Shopping list
The ingredients for the servings you chose — copy them or send them to a messenger. Tick what you already have at home: only the rest goes on the list.
Method
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Step 1: Make the poolish
The evening before, mix the flour, water and pinch of yeast into a thick, lump-free batter. Cover and leave at room temperature for 12–16 hours. It’s ready when it’s puffy and bubbly, just beginning to sink in the centre and smells faintly boozy.
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Step 2: Mix the dough
Add the water, flour and yeast to the poolish and mix by hand or with a spoon until shaggy, with no dry flour left. Rest for 20 minutes. Sprinkle over the salt and pinch and fold the dough with a wet hand for 3–4 minutes until it dissolves; the dough will be very sticky, and that’s right.
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Step 3: Bulk with folds
Transfer the dough to an oiled rectangular container and leave for 2 hours at room temperature. At 30, 60 and 90 minutes, fold it: with wet hands, lift each side up and over onto the middle. By the end it should have doubled, jiggle and be full of large bubbles.
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Step 4: Divide
Generously flour the counter and the top of the dough, then ease it out of the container, trying not to knock out the air. Cut it into 2 rectangles with a bench scraper and gently stretch each to about 25 × 10 cm.
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Step 5: Proof and preheat
Move the loaves onto floured parchment and leave for 30–40 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 240 °C (465 °F) with a baking stone or upturned baking sheet on the middle shelf and an empty tray on the bottom for steam.
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Step 6: Bake with steam
Slide the loaves, still on their parchment, onto the hot stone, pour a cup of boiling water into the bottom tray and shut the door quickly. Bake for 22–25 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped.
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Step 7: Cool
Cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes; the crust will crackle as the crumb finishes setting.
Tips & variations
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Tip
Handle the dough only with wet hands and a scraper. Working extra flour into it tightens the crumb and kills the big holes.
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Tip
In a hot kitchen (above 25 °C), give the poolish just 8–10 hours or use an even smaller pinch of yeast.
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Variation
Fold in 100 g of chopped sun-dried tomatoes or olives during the first set of folds.
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Storage
Ciabatta is best on the day. Keep it in a paper bag for 2 days, or freeze and revive at 200 °C for 5–7 minutes.
Nutrition
| 1 serving | Whole dish 8 servings | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 230 kcal | 1,840 kcal |
| Protein | 8 g | 60 g |
| Fat | 2 g | 16 g |
| Carbohydrates | 47 g | 376 g |
Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.
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