Ciabatta

1058 min (incl. resting)hard6 original servings

An overnight biga ciabatta with an open, bubbly crumb and a deep golden crust — made with a wet, barely-handled dough. Buy a good artisan loaf if time is short, or commit to the 24-hour bake.

Ingredients

Serves

Biga (night before)

100 g bread flour
100 ml water
1 g instant yeast

Dough (next day)

all the biga from the night before
400 g bread flour
300 ml water
5 g instant yeast
10 g salt
20 ml olive oil

Instructions

1
Make the biga the night before: mix 100 g bread flour, 100 ml water and 1 g instant yeast into a rough paste. Cover and leave at room temperature for 12–16 hours until bubbly and slightly sour-smelling.
2
The next day, mix all dough ingredients (including all the biga) together in a large bowl. The dough will be very wet and sticky — this is correct. Do not add more flour.
3
Rest for 30 minutes, then do 4 rounds of stretch-and-fold in the bowl, 30 minutes apart. Wet your hands each time to prevent sticking.
4
After the final fold, rest 1 hour. Turn out onto a heavily floured surface and cut in half with a bench scraper.
5
Shape very gently into 2 rough logs — do not deflate the dough. The big bubbles are the whole point.
6
Rest 45 minutes on a well-floured tea towel, covered.
7
Bake at 240°C on a preheated tray with steam (a roasting tin of boiling water on the oven floor) for 20–25 minutes, until deep golden and hollow-sounding when tapped underneath.
8
Cool on a rack for at least 20 minutes before slicing — the crumb is still setting.

Notes & Tips

Easy route

Pick up a fresh artisan ciabatta — Woolworths artisan ciabatta, Jason Bakery or Knead are all excellent. Warm it in the oven at 180°C for 5 minutes before serving. Serve with really good salted butter at room temperature.

Serving and make-ahead

This spread works brilliantly because almost everything holds at room temperature. Roast the lamb last, but prep the hummus, tahini sauce, aubergine and cauliflower salad up to 4 hours ahead. Fruit salad assemble at the last minute. Bread warm just before serving. Open a bottle of something cold and crisp — a Sauvignon Blanc or a pale Rosé — and let everyone help themselves. Sahten.