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Ciabatta is the national Italian bread, which is prepared on the basis of wheat flour with the addition of yeast. The characteristics of this bread, thanks to which it has become widespread and loved, are the crispy outer crust and the obvious porosity and airiness of the crumb. This bread gained wide popularity in the United States at the end of the last century, where, as in Europe, it was used to create sandwiches.
At the very beginning of its history, ciabatta was baked exclusively in the city of Liguria, and only then it spread throughout Italy and became a classic product for it. However, with the spread throughout the country, it also acquired new shades of taste and a special look, for example, the classic ciabatta should have a crispy crust and soft porous pulp, but in some areas of Italy they bake bread with a hard crust and fairly dense pulp.
Manufacturing secrets
The main secret of the exquisite taste of ciabatta is that only live yeast is used for production, and the time for raising the dough is more than 12 hours. According to the classic recipe, ciabatta must be baked in stone ovens specially made for bread.
Some modern chefs replace this stone oven with a special stone that is placed in the oven, placed on top of the bread pan and baked, which, according to reviews, gives it a very special taste and allows it to bake evenly on all sides. There are a huge number of types of ciabatta, because in each region of Italy, chefs brought something of their own to this recipe. For example, spices and olive oil are often added to it, as well as milk instead of water.
Cooking application
Now ciabatta is most often used to prepare various sandwiches, it is served with salads, and Italian bruschettas, known all over the world, are made on the basis of this bread.
The difference between ciabatta is that you can safely experiment with tastes. Chefs all over the world add cheese, ham or something else to ciabatta, playing with its flavors.
Composition
Ciabatta in its composition contains vitamins A and E, as well as a high concentration of folic acid. In addition, it contains magnesium and calcium, zinc and phosphorus. This type of bread is rich enough in various amino acids that our body needs to maintain health.
How to cook ciabatta at home
To cook ciabatta at home, you need to be patient. So, for one serving of ciabatta you will need:
- wheat flour (highest grade) – 430 g;
- pure water 330 ml;
- live yeast 5 grams;
It is necessary to sift the flour well, add salt and yeast to it, mix. Pour warm water into the container in which the ciabatta dough will be located, and gradually pour the flour into it, gently stirring the mixture with a spoon, but in no case knead it.
When you add all the flour, cover the container with a film and leave it in a warm place for 12 hours so that the yeast has time to ferment. It is this stage that is very important, since it gives the ciabatta the necessary porosity and softness, due to the growth of the dough.
After 12 hours, it is necessary to generously sprinkle the surface on which you will knead the dough with flour, and put the resulting dough on it. It cannot be kneaded in the usual sense of the word, since it is very sticky and very tender: you need to put it on the table, and then fold it into an envelope, folding each from 4 sides from edge to middle.
This procedure must be repeated until it becomes noticeable that the dough already confidently holds its shape and does not spill over the table. After that, it is necessary to divide the dough into two equal parts, make rectangles from them, about 10 by 20 cm in size.
After that, the pieces of dough must be put on a linen napkin, tuck the edges so that the dough does not spill, cover with another napkin on top and leave to rise in a warm place for about an hour.
It’s okay if you don’t notice that it rises a lot: the point of this exposure for an hour is to make the resulting dough soft.
After that, carefully transfer the resulting dough to a baking sheet, and place in the oven, heated to 220 degrees. Ciabatta needs to be baked for 30-35 minutes, and so that it does not burn and remains soft inside and crispy outside, you need to open the oven about once every 10 minutes and sprinkle water on its walls.
After 35 minutes, you need to get the finished ciabatta, put it on a wire rack and cover with a towel so that it has time to cool. About half an hour is enough for the ciabatta to cool enough and be ready to serve.
Use restrictions
Ciabatta is made from premium flour, which in turn is made from durum wheat. Thus, the finished product contains fiber necessary for a person, which normalizes the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract and stimulates bowel cleansing. However, a large amount of carbohydrates contained in ciabatta can lead to metabolic disorders and weight gain. In addition, it is not recommended for people who suffer from gout and kidney disease.