Genuine Italian Ciabatta Bread

Chef Anders Ostergaard's Note:

Great food deserves to be accompained by great bread - this is the one I bake myself these days... I never really measure anything, so the ingredients are aprox., but I tried to measure up what I usually do - and below is what I came up with.. How ever feel free to experiement around with the flours - add more bolted flour for a heavier and more rustic loaf and more durum for a more filling one. However an all durum flour bread wont turn out very well so always use more regular flour than durum... It may sound like a lot of time to make, but the actual working time is very limited. Enjoy

• Total Time: 45 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 1 loaf of ...

• 1/2 liter cold water
• 10 g yeast
• 100 g durum flour
• 300 g plain flour (pref. Italian 'tipo 00')
• 50 g of bolted flour
• 10 g salt

Directions:

1. Mix yeast and water in a large bowl. Then add the flours and knead the loaf by hand for about 10-15 minutes. Add the salt in the last 2-3 minutes.
2. Let the bread rest in the fridge in a closed container - with room to raise, for at least 24 hours (I often keep a batch in my fridge and just take out chunks to bake, when i need some bread, leaving the rest of the dough in the fridge - it keeps for a few days (3-4).
3. Take out the dough about 2-3 hours before baking, letting it reach room temperature. Do not knead the dough and be careful not to knock out all the air, just let it rest around the flour dusted kitchentable under a clean kitchentowel. Bake the bread in a 250 degrees celcius oven pref. on a heat resistant stone. Throw in a bit of water in the bottom of the oven to create some steam when the bread is inserted. Reduce the heat to around 220 degrees celcius after 10 minutes Let the bread bake for around 30 minutes but check it earlier.