Ciabatta recipe with rosemary, olives & nuts

Italian bread Ciabatta

The Italian bread ciabatta has literally been on everyone’s lips since the late 1990s. It is very popular in Europe and the USA, especially as a base for sandwiches due to its shape. Incidentally, the literal translation of the wheat flour bread is “slipper”, which is due to its flat shape. The Italian bread originally comes from Liguria, where it has a crispy crust and a soft dough. In other regions of Italy, ciabatta is also baked with a harder crust. In Rome, it is usually seasoned with olive oil, salt and marjoram.

Ciabatta with sun-dried tomatoes

Ciabatta recipe

As with many recipes, the basis for an original Italian ciabatta is time. Other ingredients include 1 kg wheat flour, 600 ml water, 40 g fresh yeast, 20 g salt and 50 ml olive oil. Delicious variations can be baked with other ingredients such as rosemary, olives or nuts. Sift the flour into a bowl and create a small hollow into which the water with the dissolved yeast is poured. The hollow is covered with flour and a smooth dough is kneaded. This dough must be allowed to rise for as long as possible until it has increased significantly in size. Salt and olive oil are added to this dough and it is then kneaded into a smooth dough. This is divided into three parts, which should be left to rise until they have doubled in volume. These loaves are baked at 210° in a fan oven until they have a golden crust.

Ciabatta – a typical Italian bread

If you don’t have that much time or patience, you can order pre-baked ciabattas in our store, which only need to be baked at home for a few minutes.