Ciabatta Loaf

What a beautiful loaf the Italian ciabatta is, crunchy and rustic with a light, holey, chewy interior. 
There is a bit of a process involved in making it, requiring a pre-fermentation or 'biga', similar to a sourdough but far easier!  Don't let this put you off, homemade ciabatta is so much better than anything you can buy, you just need to bear in mind that it needs to be started the day before you want to eat it.

Makes 2 loaves

Ingredients

 Starter

150ml Warm Water

Half a teaspoon from a 7g sachet of Instant Dried Yeast

175g Strong White Bread Flour

For the Loaf

The remainder of the Instant Dried Yeast

400ml Warm Water

500g Strong White Bread Flour

2 teaspoons Salt

• In a small bowl mix the yeast into the water until dissolved then mix in the flour until a thick paste forms.  Give it a vigorous stir for a few minutes then cover and leave it to develop for at least 8 hours or overnight.
• In a large mixing bowl dissolve the remainder of the yeast in the water then stir in the biga.  Add the flour then the salt and stir with your hand until it is all incorporated into a sticky, wet dough.  Let this rest for about 30 minutes.
• When it has rested start to work the dough in the bowl.  It is too wet to knead so the best way is to scrape along the bottom of the bowl, stretching the dough up then slapping back into the bowl repeatedly, keep doing this for 10-15 minutes, you may need to change hands halfway through to save your arms!  This stage can be done in a mixer if you have a large one with a dough hook.
• When the dough has been thoroughly worked and beaten it should be markedly smoother and more stretchy.  This now needs to be left to rise for about 2 hours until it has tripled in volume.
• Generously flour the work surface and oil two baking trays/sheets.
• Trying not to deflate the dough, gently scrape the dough down from the sides of the bowl and slowly tip it onto the floured surface.  Cut it in half using a large knife then, with the oiled tray right next to it, scoop each 'loaf' onto the trays and shape into a vague oval.
• Leave these to rise again for 30-40 minutes and preheat the oven to 220C.
• Sprinkle the risen, bubbly dough with flour then bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and hollow sounding when tapped underneath, the loaves will also be quite light when you pick them up.
• Cool them on a rack then enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!