Ciabatta

There's something so rewarding about baking your own bread, something very ancestral. Ciabatta of course is a traditional Italian style loaf which in my opinion trounces the French baguette for bready deliciousness.

Ingredients
makes 4 loaves
1 tsp dry yeast
75ml warm milk
285ml water, at room temperature
1 tbsp olive oil, plus more for the bowl
500g biga (starter dough - see below)
500g plain flour, plus more for the work surface
15g salt
fine semolina

for the 500g of biga starter dough
1/2 tsp dry yeast
50ml warm water (not hot)
200ml water, at room temperature
330g plain flour

Method

Begin by making the Biga the day before you want to make your ciabatta. Activate the dried yeast by adding it to some warm water. Allow to stand for 5-10 minutes. Then in a mixing bowl add the yeast mixture to the flour and add the rest of the water. Stir well with a wooden spoon.

Lightly oil another large bowl and place the biga in it. Cover with clingfilm and leave to rise at room temperature for over 12 hours, 24 hours would be even better. It should have tripled in size and ready to use.  At this stage it could be frozen and then defrosted thoroughly whenever you need to use it.

To make the dough for the ciabatta start by activating the yeast in the warm milk.  Again leave to stand for 5-10 minutes.  Then in a large mixing bowl add the yeast solution to the flour, biga, water and olive oil. Mix together well. Add salt and knead in the bowl for a minute or two.  The dough will be sticky but that's fine.

On a well-floured surface knead the dough until it because smooth and pliable. Try to use as little extra flour as possible.

Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with a damp tea towel. Leave to rise for about an hour and a half.

Then turn the dough onto a well floured surface and cut it into 4 equal pieces. It will still be very sticky so flour your hands well. Shape each portion out into the general shape of a ciabatta, about 25cm long and 10cm wide and flatten them down a little.

Transfer them onto well floured parchment paper and cover them with a damp tea towel.

Leave them to rise for another hour and a half. They shouldn't rise too much however.

Pre-heat the oven to 220°C and place 2 baking stones in for about 20 minutes before baking.

Bring ou the baking stones, sprinkle them liberally with fine semolina and carefully place the dough onto them. Bake for about 20-25 minutes until the loaves are golden brown and feel hollow when tapped.

Cool them on a wire rack before serving.