Ciabatta (No-Knead) Bread

Bread should be eaten warm, crunchy on the outside, and yet soft on the inside.

Perhaps I am a bread purist, but I truly believe that a good loaf of bread should always be fresh from the oven, have a perfect crust, and a soft, inviting inside.

But this is the bread of my dreams.  Only to be found at fancy French bistros, Italian bakeries, or some other magical place where food is an art and the bakers and I don’t speak the same language.

But in a world where good things happen to good people, my bakery dreams have come true.  And where did I find this bread? Italy? France? Not a chance.  I have found the perfect loaf of basic white bread in my little kitchen in Baton Rouge.  I don’t know how it happened.  It was all so sudden, so unexpected, and then suddenly, a perfect loaf of bread.

Allow me to explain myself.

I’ve been cooking my way through Jim Lahey’s My Bread when I had a revelation.  Looking longingly at his perfect “Slipper Loaf,” a Ciabatta bread from Italy, I thought, “I can make that! A simple white bread.  Perhaps the inside of my bread will have the same holes and spongey texture.”  So, I went about combining my ingredients–the flour, the water, the yeast, and the salt.  I kissed my covered bowl good night and woke up to the most beautiful dough ball I have ever seen.  Quick to see if the dough ball would yield its revolutionary promise, I kneaded it and allowed it to rise for 2 more hours.  Then, I cooked it in a preheated dutch oven.

Voila! A golden loaf with a crackling crust and warm, inviting inside. I have made a perfect loaf of bread.

Readers of Clearly Delicious can make this loaf too without going to Italy or France.  Just follow my lead with these basic ingredients, have patience, and follow the dutch oven instructions exactly.  You will not be disappointed.  Your bread will be warm, crusty on the outside, and soft on the inside with this clearly delicious Ciabatta Loaf.

Ciabatta (No-Knead) Bread 

This recipe comes from my favorite baker, Jim Lahey.  You can find this recipe on page 81 of his book My Bread.

Ingredients:

* 3 cups bread flour

* 1 1/4 teaspoons table salt

* 1/4 teaspoon active, dry yeast

* 1 1/2 cups cool water (55-65 F)

* additional flour for dusting

1.) Mix flour, salt, yeast, and water for 30 seconds.  Cover and allow to sit overnight (12-18 hours).

2.) When dough has risen for 12-18 hours, dust a surface with flour and roll dough ball onto floured surface.  Knead lightly so that the dough is coated in flour and dry to the touch.  Return to bowl, cover and allow to rise for 2 hours.

3.) 30 minutes before baking the bread, add your dutch oven to a pre-heated 475F oven.  Allow dutch-oven to preheat for 30 minutes.  Remove dutch oven from stove (be careful! the oven is hot!) and remove lid.  Using a rubber spatula, or your hands, roll dough into the dutch oven.  I prefer to cook with the dough ball seam-side up so that you get a nice crack across the top as it’s cooking.  Cover dutch oven and return to stove.  Cook for 30 minutes covered.

4.) Remove dutch oven from stove and remove lid from dutch oven.  The loaf should be  golden brown.  Return to oven and allow to cook for 10-15 minutes uncovered until the bread has reached your desired golden/brown consistency.  Remove bread and dutch oven from stove and turn off heat.  Using a metal spatula, transfer bread to a bread rack or cutting board to stop the cooking process.  Allow to cool for 10 minutes and carve.  Enjoy! Makes 10 slices of fresh bread.

–Helana Brigman