An easy homemade 3 hour ciabatta recipe – just 15 minutes to pull together, 2 hours rising and straight in the oven. I’ve also included the recipe for this fast roast beetroot hummus, an earthy, sweet variation on your regular hummus rotation. Jump to Recipe
I first came to hummus making in a round-a-bout way. It was back when I was largely interested in cooking things containing chocolate – weekend batches of chunky chocolate oat cookies, Grandma’s chocolate peppermint slice, frequently whipped up desserts of gooey chocolate self-saucing pudding – over-generous serving spoonfuls topped with mountains of vanilla ice cream. Hummus just wasn’t on my radar. A specialist from Israel was working with my father for a few months, and he and his family were appalled by the hummus quality available in New Zealand supermarkets. You know, the way-too-small, fairly expensive plastic containers of oily, slightly chunky, chickpea mash in the cheese section, often flavoured with pesto or roast capsicum? It was a far cry from their descriptions of restaurants selling only hummus, huge batches of smooth, mousse-like dip eaten by the bowlful.
So they learnt to make their own instead.
They then taught my parents, who caught onto this very quick, very healthy dip that their kids would demolish, and it became a regular weekend lunch – usually with that supermarket deli rotissserie chicken that feels questionable but keeps you coming back for more. By my last few years of school, I’d have friends over for lunch and serve bowls of hummus, probably untraditionally with avocado and ciabatta bread, followed up with whatever cake I’d been trying out that day. But I didn’t really appreciate how much of an art there could be until I discovered Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem, websites like Food52 and more recently read tales of hummus from Molly Yeh’s book and blog. Thalia and I visited Dizengoff in NYC last year, and their version topped with twice cooked eggplant and served with warm pita, sides of Israeli salad and pickles was my new bench-mark (which I haven’t yet achieved, to be honest!).
So I’ve started to learn and adapt. I learnt from Ottolenghi not to use olive oil in the hummus itself, but merely as a good quality drizzle to pool gently atop the finished product (read HERE). I read about slowly streaming iced water into the food processor for maximal creaminess and emulsification. I admit that I do prefer the hummus produced from dried then painstakingly boiled chickpeas (with a bit of bicarb soda) better – so for a dinner party, that’s what I’d do. But I also love being able to whip up a batch from a can within 10 minutes when I’ve been out at university all day – as a compromise in this scenario, I heat the chickpeas and liquid for a few minutes to warm and soften them before blitzing to achieve that warm finished product and a smoother texture. I’ve become partial to a pinch of cumin along with the requisite tahini, garlic and lemon juice.
However, I hadn’t strayed far from the original until this beetroot version. Roasted until almost caramelised and tender, the beet lends a slightly sweet, earthy undertone to the hummus. Topped with quality olive oil, toasted sesame seeds, dukkah and hazelnuts – it’s a favourite autumnal twist.
The ciabatta is an old favourite- I think I first teased it way back last year alongside this spicy eggplant shakshuka, and have made it numerous times since. It seems to turn out slightly differently each time, maybe dependent on humidity and how much effort I put into kneading the dough, but never badly. It’s flexible. Low maintenance too – 15 minutes to throw together, 2 hours resting, then it is straight on a tray and into the oven. Maybe not as perfect as a loaf created with a biga and using a preheated baking stone – but it’s pretty perfect with your shakshuka or slow-cooked ragu on a Sunday evening.
Ciabatta adapted from The Crepes of Wrath.
It will be a very wet dough - see the step-by-step photos above for more help while making it. If possible, do weigh the flour - it is much more accurate than using cup measures.
- 460 g (3 1/2 cups) all purpose flour + a couple of tablespoons extra if too wet
- 1 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast (or 1 1/2 teaspoons active dried yeast)
- 1-2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 460 ml (2 cups minus 2 tablespoons) lukewarm water
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 large beetroot (300g) - cut into chunks, olive oil s/p, roast 40 min
- 400 g can chickpeas
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 1 large clove garlic
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- Ice cold water , to loosen
- 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin , to taste
- generous pinch of salt
- to top -toasted hazelnuts , sesame seeds, dukkah, chopped parsley
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Whisk together the flour, yeast, salt and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the lukewarm water and knead with the dough hook for 8-10 minutes. If making by hand, use a large spoon and stir vigorously. The dough will seem very wet and sticky, and should stick to the bottom and sides of the bowl - if it seems TOO wet, add a couple of tablespoons more flour (I have to do this occasionally - it seems to depend on the humidity and brand of flour!)
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Flour your hands and for a further 4-5 minutes, ‘beat’ the dough with one hand by pulling at parts of the dough, stretching it up and slapping it back down on the bottom of the bowl, making a slapping sound. This is what creates some of the big air pockets in the dough.
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Oil a large bowl and transfer the dough over. Drizzle 2 teaspoons olive oil over the top of the dough, then cover with plastic wrap.
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Allow to rise for 2 hours (1 1/2 if it’s a warm day).
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Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a large baking tray, then sprinkle with flour.
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Flour both hands and gently transfer the dough to the baking tray, being careful not to squash it and break the interior bubbles. Very gently shape into a long loaf. Sprinkle the top with flour.
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Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool for a minimum of 20 minutes before slicing and eating!
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Preheat the oven to 180°C.
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Peel the beetroot, cut into chunks and place on a baking paper lined oven tray or oven dish. Drizzle with a tablespoon of olive oil, season and roast for 30-40 minutes or until fork tender.
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Pour the contents of the can of chickpeas (including the liquid) into a micro-wave safe bowl and heat for a minute or two. Drain.
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Meanwhile, blitz the tahini, garlic and lemon in a food processor. Add the roast beetroot and the drained, hot chickpeas and blitz until smooth. If it starts getting stuck, loosen by streaming in a bit of ice-cold water (I usually end up using about a 1/4 of a cup). Process until smooth.
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Taste and season with salt and cumin.
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Top the finished hummus with toasted hazelnuts, sesame seeds, dukkah, chopped parsley and a drizzle of quality olive oil.
This is a beautiful recipe, Claudia. Loved reading that Ottolenghi post. I think I’ll give homemade hummus a try again because until now I wasn’t able to make tasty version at home. Never knew that making hummus is such an art until I visited Israel. The hummus there tasted so different from everything I ever ate. I think the ice cold water and bicarbonate of soda might be the trick 🙂 x Kati
This bread looks pretty special Claudia and I can just imagine scraping up baba ganoush or hummus with thick slabs of it. . I love how you described the hummus – it makes me want a big bowl full right now.
i usually shy away from bread, because i think of how long it takes (well how long the ones with starters take), but this one sounds surprisingly easy. probably jinxing myself, but it sounds almost fool-proof. and i even have all the ingredients in my not so stocked apartment pantry. hmm, i sense some procrasti-bread making in my future..
Yusssss No-knead bread is the best ever! I’ve been keeping a sourdough starter alive for about a month now and so far all it’s doing is eating flour because I haven’t used it yet. haha.
My mind was TOTALLY blown when I first made ottolenghi’s hummus. Its ridiculous in comparison to what we have at home right? (which is super, super shit now that Ive had ‘real hummus’)
This all looks delish! Hope it’s all going well lady. xx
“I think I first teased it way back last year alongside this spicy eggplant shakshuka.”
I’m not sure how one teases a loaf of bread! Your Dad was a real loaf? LOL! I love it!
I didn’t know about the cold water drizzle technique. I can’t wait to try that!
YAS that Dizengoff hummus is phenomenal. I might like it even better than Ottolenghi’s? Controversial, I know…
I’m JUST now getting into this whole making my own bread thing, so this 3 hour ciabatta situation sounds PERFECT.
I’ve been experimenting with sourdough bread lately, which is taking me two days every time I decide to try something new, so I’m loving the 3 hours! Ciabatta is by far my favorite dipping bread and I actually remember that post!
This ciabatta looks and sounds amazing…and 3 hours! I am going to have to bake this (as soon as this heat wave we are experiencing is over!)
amazing! i must try this ciabatta! and thank you for the hummus tips i’ve been trying to get that smoothness at home for a while now xx
I made this a couple of weeks ago, and even though I was a bit slap-dash measuring the flour, and couldn’t really figure out the “slapping” technique with the wet dough, it turned out beautifully–a bit flatter than yours looks, with fewer bubbles, but gorgeously crisp and flavourful. I’m making it again right now and hoping for a few more bubbles!
Beautiful ciabatta! Can’t believe it only takes 3 hours!
I’ve been eyeballing this recipe as I’ve perused your site and it’s so eye-catching. The vibrancy of the beetroot hummus is so enticing and the ciabatta sounds heavenly. Can’t wait to try it!
Loved finding this recipe. Mine didn’t turn out nearly as craggy as I had hoped for, but I think switching to bread flour and having a steam bath in the oven would help with that.
I find that the recipe is a little light on the salt. I would increase it by half a teaspoon and I substituted 2 tablespoons of water for equal amounts of good olive oil.
No issues with the dough sticking to the parchment but I used a lot of flour for dusting. I also didn’t work the shape of the loaf; I just slid/poured it out of the bowl and put it in the oven. A little more time and practice and I’m sure I’ll be recreating mine just like the pictures
So glad you enjoyed it, I hope you get the cragginess you are hoping for in the next rendition! That’s good to hear regarding the salt – i guess I often serve it with salt and olive oil, but I’ll note that on the recipe. Thank you!
Thanks very much for posting this recipe. I’ve done breads and pizza doughs in the past. This recipe is close to some quick pizza doughs I’ve devised. For my first run of your recipe, I’ve substituted a Guiness Extra Stout for the water and heated it to about 100F prior to use. I love dark beers in my breads. The malty flavors and aroma comes thru and complements bread perfectly. My experience is that the liquid cools quickly upon hitting a stainless stand mixer bowl, so the heat won’t kill the yeast. I went light on the salt, because it has a detrimental effect on yeast and my beer alcohol also has negative effects. Although beer is relatively low alcohol for yeast to work in. Regarding Jamie’s experience of not having the cragginess, I think it goes to the rise of the dough. There are so many variables in the rise time that I go by the look and volume expanded. If dough is not rising as expected, put it someplace warmer. I just put my bowl outside in the sun this morning on a 70F day. You can use an oven that you bump the heat on for 15-30 seconds and shut off. Just keep it under 100F so you don’t kill the yeast.
Hi Chuck! That sounds great. Glad it worked out well for you. I agree, a warmer longer rise will help with developing more bubbles. Thanks for the feedback!
This has just blown my mind. Have all of those delicious loaves of warm bread I’ve eaten with hummus and all sorts of other meals at your house been home made? For all these years I thought they were from one of your favourite bakeries and simply warmed! I should have known!!! This is the yummiest bread, I’m going to make it right now!!
Hahaha amazing!! Most of the time either this one or the turkish bread recipe (which is also on here somewhere..). would love to know how it goes too! we need to have another one of those lunches sometime soon! x
Great recipe! The prep was easy and the bread came out beautifully. My family loved the bread and I’ll be making it again in the near future. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
So good to hear, thanks Bethann!
Thank you for the simplest ciabatta recipe I could find online! Made it last night and it turned out wonderfully with minimal effort.
So happy to hear!! Thanks for letting me know
I used to think that ciabatta was made with a sourdough starter so I never really bothered trying to make it. But I’m so glad I found this recipe – so simple and delicious! Ended up making a panini with the ciabatta and it was amazing.
I made your amazing Plum pistachio lemon cake recipe!…a week ago my daughter’s version was shared at a potluck Family dinner! I love the different flavours and rustic texture of the cake…am so looking forward to trying out your other unconventional and awesome recipes!
Thanks Lindy that’s so good to hear! Thanks for letting me know