One way to warm any home and comfort the senses is to bake fresh bread, and the team at Tucci’s Kitchen do this every day. This recipe is adapted from one passed down to Tucci from his nonna back in Abruzzo, and is crispy on the outside and light and fluffy in the middle. For even greater perfection, this bread should be baked in a traditional brick pizza oven, just like back in Italy! Here, it is shown served with freshly made lentil soup, drizzled with lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil.
For the Starter Dough:
200ml warm water
2 teaspoons dried yeast / 15g fresh yeast
250g farina ’00′
For the Rest of the Dough:
200ml warm water
1.5 teaspoons dried yeast / 10g fresh yeast
250g farina ’00′
Mix the warm water and the yeast together and add to the flour. Work together with a dough hook or by hand for about 5 minutes, until all the flour is absorbed by the dough ball and the sides of the bowl have come clean. Use your hands to form the ball, and cover the bowl with clingfilm. Leave at room temperature preferably overnight, or for at least 8 hours.
In the morning, add the rest of the flour and the dissolved yeast and water to the risen mass, and mix again with a dough hook for about 5 minutes. Tip the contents out onto a floured surface and work into a ball. Place into a clean, lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling film. Leave again to rise, around 2 hours.
Once the dough has risen, tip it out onto a heavily floured surface trying not to disturb it, and rest for 1/2 an hour. During this time, you can pre-heat the oven to 240 degrees c.
Slice the dough in half using a sharp knife or a bread paddle and form into two loaves. To do this, handle the dough as little as possible. At Tucci’s Kitchen, we usually just make two folds lengthwise to form a rustic loaf shape. Move onto a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper, or sprinkled with semolina.
Bake in the middle shelf of the oven at 240 degrees for 25 minutes. The bread will go a nice golden brown or biscuity colour. Do not be tempted to remove it from the oven sooner than this, the colour when it comes out should be fairly dark, as pictured below.
Cool on a wire rack for as long as is possible before temptation overtakes you and you must slice a piece off and slather with butter. This is the perfect accompaniment to a warming winter lentil soup!
Tags: Ciabatta, Ciabatta Bread, Ciabatta Recipe, Italian Bread, Italian Bread Recipe, Lemony Lentil Soup, Lentil Soup, Lentil Soup and Ciabatta Bread, Tucci's Kitchen
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