Make your own ciabatta bread

  

This is my recipe for a simple yet foolproof ciabatta bread loaf, one of my favourite loaves! The recipe is straight from my book Savour (now available as an ebook from Kobo and from Barnes & Noble, and also from Amazon for Kindle), where there are many more bread recipes, and more. In the meantime enjoy this one!

  

Ciabatta 

Ingredients

300ml warm water

2 teaspoons active yeast granules

14⁄teaspoon sugar

300g high-grade flour, plus extra for dusting

pinch of salt 

Makes 1 loaf

Place the warm water in a large bowl, add the yeast and sugar and set aside for 5 minutes. When the yeast starts to bubble, add the flour and salt and work into a dough for about 5 minutes using your fingers. This dough will be too sticky to roll on the bench or table so knead it in the bowl (although it feels more like mixing). Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel and leave to rise for about 2 hours. Line a large baking tray with baking paper and turn out the risen dough onto the tray bottom-side up. The dough will be sticky so you will need to scrape it from the sides of the bowl; it is also likely to be runny – prop up the outside edges of the baking paper with a couple of small ovenproof ramekins to avoid ending up with an extremely large flat loaf (the ramekins can be filled with water to create a steam oven effect - image 1)). Dust the top of the loaf with the extra flour. Bake in a preheated 180 ̊C (350 ̊F) oven for 25–30 minutes.

 Remove the bread from the oven, wrap in a tea towel, then place in a plastic bag and seal. Leave the bread in the bag for 30 minutes so that the steam will cook it further and make it soft and deliciously chewy. If you prefer a ciabatta with a crunchy crust, eat it while it’s still warm – yum!

 

 

Tips and variations

Although some recipes add 1–2 tablespoons of olive oil to the dough, I prefer an oil-free version so I can drizzle olive oil on it when it is freshly cut and ready to eat. I also like to dip ciabatta slices in a little oil flavoured with crushed cumin seeds and salt or basil leaves.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Chocolate Panforte: Guest Post from a Vegan Author

This wonderful recipe is from Vegan Chef Laurinda Erasmus' book BENESSERE well-being: vegan & sugar-free eating for a healthy life-style, a collection of over 500 vegan recipes, each one with colour photo. 

Laurinda says:

 I encountered this delicious cake in Siena, where entire shops and bakeries are dedicated to making and selling only Panforte. The Italian version was very sweet, with honey, sugar AND glucose syrup. So here is my version of this incredibly tasty cake – filled with lots of different nuts and dried fruit. Only a small amount of apple syrup is used, together with very dark (85%) vegan chocolate and aromatic vanilla-infused oil. Don’t blame yourself if you scoff this in a day or two!

Ingredients

125 g (¾ cup) wholemeal spelt flour

2 tbsp unsweetened pure dark cocoa powder / pure carob powder

1 tsp cinnamon powder

70 g each: almonds (6 tbsp), hazelnuts (6½ tbsp), walnuts (6½ tbsp)

300 g (1½ cups) chopped mixed dried fruit, e.g. prunes, figs, sultanas, cherries, apricots

90 g vegan bitter chocolate (85%) / vegan carob buttons

2 tbsp rice syrup

1 tbsp apple / date syrup

70 g (5 tbsp + 1 tsp) vanilla-infused grapeseed / camellia tea / rice bran oil

glazing:

1 tbsp apple / date syrup  

2 tsp cinnamon powder

1 tsp nutmeg

2 ml ground cloves

4 tsp unsweetened pure dark cocoa powder

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Line a 1 L baking tin with non-stick baking parchment, or use a silicone dish.

2. Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the nuts and dried fruit. Stir well to combine.

3. Heat the chocolate or carob buttons with the syrups and oil in a bowl set over boiling water until molten and smooth. Pour onto the dry ingredients and stir until well combined.

4. Spoon into the baking tin, pressing down to remove air pockets and level the surface. Place a sheet of tin foil over the baking tin.

5. Bake for 50 minutes. Remove the tin foil for the last 5 minutes.

6. Remove the Panforte from the oven and cool in the baking tin.

7. Glaze the cake: brush the syrup all over the top. Combine the dry ingredients and sprinkle half over the top. Press down with a spoon to seal in the stickiness.

8. Remove the cooled (and now very firm) Panforte from the baking tin. Peel off the parchment. Roll the sides of the Panforte in the remaining half of the spice mixture to seal.

The cake should last in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2 weeks – but not in our household! Cut the cake into 16 slices, as it is quite rich.

Recipe and photo provided by Laurinda Erasmus, from her vegan recipe book BENESSERE well-being: vegan & sugar-free eating for a healthy life-style.  Quinoa Publishing.  www.veganwellbeing.net