Ciabatta Bread
Makes one large loaf or 2 small loaves
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon yeast
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups warm water
In a large bowl add flour, yeast, salt and warm water. Stir with a spatula or wooden spoon. At first the dough will seem too wet, then sticky, then too dry. Just keep stirring until you end up with a very sticky dough.
Cover with foil or plastic wrap and let rise for 18 hours at room temperature.
After 18 hours, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and dust with flour.
Spray an even counter top with a little water and cover with a large piece of plastic wrap (this will cause the plastic wrap to stick to your counter). Dust plastic wrap with flour.
Uncover the dough; it will be very sticky, soft and bubbly. Take a spatula and gently pull the dough off the sides of the bowl and transfer the dough to the floured plastic wrap. Shape the dough into a rough 6x12 shape or make 2 smaller loaves if you want. Ciabatta means "Carpet Slipper" in Italian.
Pick up the plastic wrap with the shaped dough on it and flip it onto the parchment paper lined baking sheet. Reshape if you need to.
Add a light dusting of flour on top of the dough and cover plastic wrap. Let the dough sit covered at room temperature for 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Uncover the dough and bake on the parchment paper lined baking sheet until the crust is a deep golden brown and the center of the loaf registers 210 degrees or about 25-35 minutes.
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