ONION CIABATTA

PAN DE LAGRIMAS: CARAMELIZED ONION AND HERB CIABATTA

Forever and always a staple in my bread kitchen for its simplicity and ultimately delicious savory flavor. This was one of the first breads I made that became popular with family, friends and neighbors. It baked incredible well in our outdoor wood burning bread oven so I was able to bake off forty onion ciabattas in a bake. It was the core of my small bread program and highlighted during my holiday bakes for years. As I became more skilled with sourdoughs, this ciabatta became a special item I baked for some of my old tried and true customers from my early days of baking. I also found that making this dough into rolls was appealing and made for a fabulous tri tip sandwich. This recipe yields roughly four loaves of bread or maybe 12-14 rolls. Get creative. It’s free form and open to alterations in shape and mix ins. If you are new to bread this is a perfect formula for exploring!

Below is a formula for this ciabatta with a video tutorial which might be helpful in understanding mixing, dough development and shaping. I have also attached simple crostini inspiration with cherries in mind as tis the season for cherries and a link to my very first attempt at making ricotta!

Toasted onion ciabatta, fresh ricotta and cherries! Give it a go!

INGREDIENTS AND PROCESS

Two day process: Yields 4 loaves or 12 rolls

DAY ONE: POOLISH

5 cups flour, 3 cups water, 1/2 teaspoon dry active yeast

Mix together in a bowl, cover and let rest overnight.

The poolish is a preferment that is often made the day before a final mix and left to ferment overnight to develop flavor. It is made with a small amount of rapid acting yeast, water and flour.

DAY TWO: CIABATTA DOUGH

1 1/2 cup water, 6 1/2 cup poolish, 3 1/2 teaspoons salt, 3 teaspoons yeast, 6 cups flour

Also, coarse salt for sprinkling on top of loaves, cornmeal for dusting the sheet tray, and caramelized onions and herbs to mix into the dough.

Caramelizing onion process below. I would suggest processing and cooking off the onions before you start the dough so that they are cool enough to fold into the dough when needed.

  1. mix water, poolish, flour, salt and yeast in a large bowl or mixer.

  2. transfer dough to a table surface and continue with the slap, stretch and fold method to continue developing the dough. We are looking for a hydrated dough, so do not add more flour. If the dough is too sticky, dip your hands in water and continue to work the dough. Stop and let the dough rest and then continue again. Eventually, the gluten will start to develop and the dough will become less sticky and start to come together with extensibility and elasticity.

  3. Place the dough is an oil greased bowl and cover. Let rest for 30 minutes before folding in the onions.

  4. At 30 minutes, fold in the onions gently. Try not to handle the dough too much. Cover with a towel and let rest for another 45 minutes to an hour.

  5. Ready to shape: Use couche fabric (a thick none treated flax linen bread shaping cloth) or a thick dish towel. Sprinkle towel with flour. Transfer dough to a floured table surface and dust the top of dough with flour. Divide dough into four equal parts. Be gentle and do not de gas or deflate the dough. Gently place the on the couch fabric or dish towel and fold up the side around the dough: The video tutorial will help you understand this process. Line the fabric with the four loaves separated by the fabric folds in between. Cover and let rest another 30-45 minutes.

  6. Time to bake: heat oven to 500 degrees F: transfer each loaf to oven using a board. Flip the loaf from the fabric to the board, dust with coarse salt and place on oven deck. Or, if you are using a residential oven, flip a sheet tray upside down and dust it with cornmeal. Slide you loaves onto the tray in the oven. Drop the oven heat to 450 degrees F and bake until browned and done.

CARAMELIZED ONIONS AND HERBS

4 medium large onions: or the equivalent amount in smaller onions, Olive oil, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, 4 tablespoons sugar, salt, pepper, herbs ( I used parsley in this loaf)

  1. clean and slice onions. Big onions I like to slice in half rings. Smaller onions, cut in quarters.

  2. in a skillet with olive oil over medium high heat cook the onions until they become translucent.

  3. add the sugar and stir for a few minutes to cook down sugar into onions

  4. add the balsamic vinegar and cook down until onions are sweet and carmelized

  5. add salt, pepper and chopped herbs

  6. cool before mixing into dough

VIDEO TUTORIAL

 

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CIABATTA CROSTINI WITH FRESH RICOTTA AND EARLY SUMMER CHERRIES

For summer afternoon snack or simple cool meal in the heat try this! Toast your onion ciabatta and butter. Spread on the freshly made ricotta. Top with cherries, chives, salt, pepper, drizzle of olive oil and bachelor button petals for color. You could use most summer stone fruits for this savory treat as they pair well with the ricotta and surprising nicely with the sweet onion flavor in the bread.

 

Cherry salsa with fresh summer cherries, salt, pepper, chives, olive oil and bachelor button petals for color.

Caramelized Onion Ciabatta Crostini with fresh ricotta and summer cherry salsa.