Roasted Strawberry Balsamic Ciabatta with Black Pepper

Strawberries are almost in season here. At the very least they are now arriving from California not Mexico. Baby steps toward spring. Though I guess we are already entering spring’s second stage here. Daffodils have given way to tulips and the lilacs are just starting to bloom. I have a confession. I didn’t follow a recipe when I made this bread. I didn’t even measure, shame because it was an exceptional batch. So the recipe I’m giving you is based on Jason’s Quick Coccodrillo Ciabatta Bread, a recipe I found on The Fresh Loaf website several years ago. I do a couple of things differently but this is the template.. Realize that the quick is relative- four hours instead of eight or more. Still this technique produces a lovely loaf, soft yet chewy with the airy dough associated with ciabatta.

Since the strawberry loaf was an experiment I only filled one of the three loaves with the filling. You could certainly do all three. especially if you plan to make french toast with the leftovers (which I did, and it was delicious. Post to follow) This filling is not sweet. I wanted the fruit flavor but with a bit of tang, something that could be served with cheese, as a side, or accompany a savory dinner.

Roasted Strawberry Balsamic Ciabatta with Black Pepper printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for the dough

• 500g bread flour (or 100g whole wheat, 400g bread flour)
• 475g (~2 cups) water
• 2 tsp. yeast
• 15g salt

for the strawberries

•  2 cups cleaned strawberries, cut into quarters
• 1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
• Black Pepper to taste

1. 1) In Kitchen Aid style mixing bowl combine water and whole wheat flour. Allow to rest for at least twenty minutes or up to several hours. Add remaining ingredients and mix until roughly combined by hand or using the paddle attachment on your mixer, let it rest for 10 minutes.
2. With the paddle or hook beat the batter until it starts begins to climb the hook or paddle (the paddle is considerably faster but I usually use the hook because it gives a little more leeway to take my eyes off the bowl) It will start like pancake batter but in anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes it will start to develop strands and begin to pull away from the edges and climb up the hook or paddle. The change usually happens about five minutes after I think it will.
3. Place into a well oiled container and let it triple! Not double, triple. Generally this takes about 2.5 hours. I have a straight sided clear container that I use. The sides are marked so it’s easy to see how much the dough has risen.
4. This is when I roasted the strawberries and balsamic vinegar, in a 325 degree oven for about twenty minutes, stirring occasionally. You want to give it time to cool before using. And OMG if I knew how wonderful I would find the scent of roasting strawberries I would have done this all winter long to remind that spring is just around the corner.
5. Empty on to a well floured counter, and by well floured I mean a half a cup or more (the straight sided container works well here as well, I just ‘pour’ the dough out and very rarely have to scrape). Cut into 3 pieces. Dust with flour (lots) flatten slightly and add filling, gently fold the dough around the filling and form into oblong loaves. Let them proof for about 45 minutes, which gives you enough time to crank that oven up to 500F.
6. After 45 minutes or so the loaves should be puffy and wobbly. Gently pick up the loaves and stretch into your final ciabatta shape (~10″ oblong rectangle) and flip them upside down (this redistributes the bubbles, so you get even bubbles throughout), and onto parchment. Try to do it in one motion and be as gentle as you can, it might look like you’ve ruined them completely, but the oven spring is immense on these things.
7. Bake at 500F until they are 205F in the center (about 15-20 minutes), rotating 180 degrees half way through.  I usually bake this on a cookie sheet lined with parchment, as only two loaves fit on the pan I cook it in two batches. The second batch is almost always puffier.
8. Allow to cool before slicing.

Roasted Strawberry Balsamic Ciabatta with Black Pepper

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Ingredients

  

• 500 g bread flour or 100g whole wheat, 400g bread flour
475g (~2 cups) water
2 tsp. yeast 
15g salt
• 2 cups cleaned strawberries cut into quarters
• 1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
• Black Pepper to taste

Instructions

 

• ) In Kitchen Aid style mixing bowl combine water and whole wheat flour. Allow to rest for at least twenty minutes or up to several hours. Add remaining ingredients and mix until roughly combined by hand or using the paddle attachment on your mixer, let it rest for 10 minutes.
• 2) With the paddle or hook beat the batter until it starts begins to climb the hook or paddle (the paddle is considerably faster but I usually use the hook because it gives a little more leeway to take my eyes off the bowl) It will start out like pancake batter but in anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes it will start to develop strands and begin to pull away from the edges and climb up the hook or paddle. The change usually happens about five minutes after I think it will.
• 3) Place into a well oiled container and let it triple! Not double, triple. Generally this takes about 2.5 hours. I have a strait sided clear container that I use. The sides are marked so it's easy to see how much the dough has risen.
• 4) This is when I roasted the strawberries and balsamic vinegar, in a 325 degree oven for about twenty minutes, stirring occasionally. You want to give it time to cool before using. And OMG if I knew how wonderful I would find the scent of roasting strawberries I would have done this all winter long to remind that spring is just around the corner.
• 5) Empty on to a well floured counter, and by well floured I mean a half a cup or more (the straight sided container works well here as well, I just 'pour' the dough out and very rarely have to scrape). Cut into 3 pieces. Dust with flour (lots) flatten slightly and add filling, gently fold the dough around the filling and form into oblong loaves. Let them proof for about 45 minutes, which gives you enough time to crank that oven up to 500F.
• 6) After 45 minutes or so the loaves should be puffy and wobbly. Gently pick up the loaves and stretch into your final ciabatta shape (~10" oblong rectangle) and flip them upside down (this redistributes the bubbles, so you get even bubbles throughout), and onto parchment. Try to do it in one motion and be as gentle as you can, it might look like you've ruined them completely, but the oven spring is immense on these things.
• 7) Bake at 500F until they are 205F in the center (about 15-20 minutes), rotating 180 degrees half way through. I usually bake this on a cookie sheet lined with parchment, as only two loaves fit on the pan I cook it in two batches. The second batch is almost always puffier.
• 8) Allow to cool before slicing.

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