The Quick Prep, Incredibly Easy Ciabatta Bread Recipe

Ciabatta is a distinctly flavored, rustic Italian bread. This recipe yields a Ciabatta bread loaf characterized by its light, open and moist crumb, chewy texture and thin, crisp crust. Split horizontally, Ciabatta bread's long, wide shape makes for an excellent sandwich bread.

Ciabatta is the bread of choice for making the classic Italian-style grilled sandwich, panini. To make a Ciabatta bread panini, brush slices of ciabatta bread with a blend of extra virgin olive oil and melted butter. Panini recipes can call for a variety of ingredients, including thinly sliced ham, turkey, provolone and vegetables like roasted red peppers and asparagus. Make a Ciabatta panini sandwich using your favorite combination, then grill to a golden brown.

Slices of Ciabatta bread make an excellent impromptu pizza. Split Ciabatta bread horizontally. Drizzle Ciabatta halves with a good quality olive oil and top with fresh tomato, basil and mozzarella. Bake the Ciabatta pizzas in the oven for 6-8 minutes or until the cheese melts and begins to brown.

As with most artisan breads, Ciabatta tastes best eaten fresh, on the same day it was baked. Leftover Ciabatta bread slices make a full-bodied, flavorful French Toast. Cut day-old Ciabatta bread into cubes then toss gently in olive oil with a little salt, pepper, garlic powder and parmesan. Bake until crisp and lightly browned for the ultimate salad croutons.

Easy Homemade Ciabatta Bread - Overnight Recipe

This Ciabatta bread recipe calls for 5 minutes of prep work the night before. In the early evening, combine the following ingredients and set aside. The next morning, you'll need a few minutes to turn out the bread, shape it and set aside again so that it can rise. Your fresh Ciabatta bread will emerge from the oven in under an hour.

Ingredients:

4 cups of all-purpose, unbleached flour

2 cups of warm water

1 Tablespoon wheat gluten

1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

1/4 teaspoon of instant yeast

Cornmeal (for dusting)

5-6 ice cubes

Pour the warm water into a small bowl then sprinkle surface of the water with yeast.

In a separate large bowl or work bowl of a standing mixer, combine flour, salt and wheat gluten. Attach the dough hook to the mixer and set speed to #1 or lowest setting. Add in the warm water and yeast.

Mix to combine, increasing speed to setting #2. Mixture will form a thick, wet, batter-like dough. Using a silicone spatula, scrape down the work bowl several times as needed. Be careful not to over-work the dough. Ciabatta bread dough is not firm and will resemble an extremely thick cake batter.

Cover the work bowl with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel. Set the Ciabatta bread dough aside in a place that's secure and free from drafts. Allow the covered Ciabatta dough to rise at room temperature, undisturbed overnight. At least an 8 hour rise time is recommended, while 10 to 12 hours is ideal.

In the morning, check to see that the dough has doubled in size. Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and dust lightly with cornmeal.

Using a silicone spatula, gently fold the bread over in the work bowl, 5-6 times. Turn the dough out onto the cornmeal-dusted, parchment-covered baking sheet. Ciabatta bread dough will be somewhat wet and sticky. Use a silicone spatula to remove all the Ciabatta dough from the work bowl.

Coat hands with flour. Pressing down gently, move and shape the Ciabatta dough into an elongated, roughly rectangular shape. Using floured fingers, create a series of shallow dimples on the surface of the bread. For a rustic, artisan finish, lightly dust the top of the bread with flour.

Slide the baking sheet with the Ciabatta bread into preheated oven on the middle rack. Quickly toss ice cubes directly onto the interior floor of the oven. Close oven door and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until light golden brown on top.

*Note: If using a pizza stone in your oven, shape the Ciabatta dough on the reverse flat side of a sheet pan that's been topped with cornmeal-dusted parchment. To make the transfer, carefully slide the Ciabatta bread dough and parchment paper directly onto the stone.

When done, remove baked bread from oven and set aside. After 10 minutes, carefully transfer the Ciabatta bread loaf to a wire rack and allow to cool for an additional 20 minutes before slicing.