Ciabatta,one of the most requested Italian breads. The original recipes  take long time to be realized so let’s try this faster  and easy one.

The taste is  slightly different from those with long rising because during all those hours the bacteria in the yeast have more time to decompose the starch in the flour, changing its taste. Anyway this is a good Ciabatta!

500 g Flour 00

370 g Water at room temperature

18 g Beer Yeast (or 6 g of dry yeast)

2 teaspoons Salt

1 teaspoon of honey ( a delicate taste)or sugar

Necessary also :

 a cup of polenta flour

Transparent film 

oven paper

Dissolve the yeast in the water

Add the honey (or sugar)

Stir it  in well

Add 3/4 of the flour and mix it

Add the salt

Stir to dissolve the salt well

Add the remaining flour

Mix everything. No need to knead well, when the flour has been absorbed, the dough is ready

Cover well and let rise for 90 minutes in a place without drafts of air at a constant temperature above 25C°/50F° (for example in the closed oven with the light on)

Let rise for 90 minutes or until it doubles in volume

Moisten the work table. This will keep the transparent film in place 

Place two strips of transparent film on the work table

Dust the transparent film abundantly and evenly with the flour

Gently turn the dough in the middle of the flour trying not to bend it

Grease your fingers and straighten the dough a little, always gently to give it a “ciabatta” shape

Place the parchment paper on a baking pan of adequate size and sprinkle it with polenta flour. The flour creates a thin layer of air under the ciabatta that cooks it better underneath

Now lift the transparent film and turn the ciabatta on the baking sheet upside down at once.Turn the ciabatta over to form streaks of flour and redistribute air bubbles inside it

Adjust the  form always very gently.

Heat the oven to 220 C°/400F°with a pan of hot water to create humidity in the oven

Bake and sprinkle a little water to further increase the humidity level of the oven

Increasing the humidity of the oven serves to keep the surface of the bread moist so that the heat penetrates the bread without immediately forming the crust. In this way, the carbon dioxide contained in the dough expands with heat and makes the bread grow. 

Then the crust starts to form and the bread remains nice and swollen. In addition, the bread cooks better inside. First take out the saucepan and the thicker the crust will be.

Cook  for 30-35 minutes.

Not to forget:this loaf is somewhat elongated, broad and flattish  like a slipper=ciabatta in Italian