Faux Ciabatta Bread

Real ciabatta bread is delicious; and complicated to make (or so it seems).  This one seemed way easier.  And it was!  It was supposed to use semolina flour, which I didn’t have, so I used cornmeal instead.  It gives it a slightly different taste than true ciabatta bread, but still is pretty tasty.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups bread flour
• 1 heaping cup cornmeal
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 cups warm water
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp dry active yeast

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine water, sugar, and yeast.  Let sit for 10 – 15 minutes or until foamy.
2. Add flour, cornmeal, and salt to yeast mixture.  The dough will be gooey.
3. Let rise 1 – 2 hours.
4. Turn dough out onto a cornmeal-covered surface and cut into 12 pieces.
5. Roll each piece into a ball, sprinkle with cornmeal, and let rest for 10 minutes.
6. Re-shape balls into rectangles and place on parchment-lined baking sheets.
7. Let sit 20 minutes.
8. Bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees F, or until bottoms are slightly browned.

Not having any idea how these would go, I was pleasantly surprised by the good taste and moist texture.  Next time I’ll try it with semolina flour like I was supposed to.  I’m ready for sammiches!!

Foamy!

Ready to rise.

RISEN.

Kind of sticky and full of cornmeal.

Rectangles.

Straight from the oven.

Time to eat!