CIABATTA SAUCE RECIPES

Steps:

• 1. Peel the onion, leaving it whole, then spike it with the cloves.
  2. Put the spiked onion into a medium saucepan with the bay leaves, milk and a few pinches of sea salt and black pepper. Finely grate in a few scrapings of nutmeg.
  3. Place the pan on a high heat and bring to the boil – keep a close eye on it as milk comes to the boil very suddenly. Reduce to a low heat and simmer very gently for 5 minutes to let the flavours infuse. Remove from the heat and leave to stand for 15 minutes.
  4. Meanwhile, cut the crusts off of the ciabatta loaves. Tear 1½ loaves into chunks and pulse them in a food processor until you have coarse breadcrumbs.
  5. Strain the milk through a sieve into a jug, discarding everything left behind in the sieve.
  6. Return the milk to the pan and bring back to the boil over a high heat. Reduce to a medium heat and simmer, gradually stirring in the breadcrumbs until you’ve used them all up.
  7. Add the butter and cream to the pan, stir well, then have a taste and season with a little more salt and pepper, if needed.
  8. Have a look at the sauce – you want it to be the perfect consistency for you. If it’s too runny, blitz the remaining ciabatta and add some more breadcrumbs, if it’s a little thick, add more milk. Transfer to a jug or bowl and serve.
  9. If you’re making this for another day, you want the consistency to be a little looser than you’d like as it will thicken as it sits, so add a bit more milk. When you’re happy with the consistency, spoon into a bowl and leave to cool. Once cool, cover the bowl with cling film and place in the fridge until Christmas Day.

Steps:

• For Starter - Mix well - 1 and 1/3 cup all purpose flour, 1 tsp yeast, 1 cup warm water and 1/2 tsp sugar. Cover and leave at room temperature to ferment for at least 4 hours (or until dough doubles in size)
• For Dough - Stir the risen starter and let it rest for 5 minutes. In meantime, in a small bowl, add 4 tbsp warm water, 1/2 cup warm milk, 1 tsp sugar, 1 & 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tbsp oil and mix well. Sprinkle yeast over the rested starter. Add milk and oil mixture and 2 cups of all-purpose flour. Mix well. Transfer to a flour dusted board and knead adding 1 tbsp flour at a time until dough comes together. Knead the dough for 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, swirl the dough in bowl to apply oil all over. Cover and leave at warm place to rise for 2 hours (until it triples in size.)
• Shape the Dough - Punch the dough, transfer to a floured surface. Gently roll the dough to make a 12 inch rectangle. Divide it in four portions.
• Shape the Dough - Sprinkle a baking sheet with 2 tbsp of all-purpose or semolina flour. Shape each half into a small rectangle by folding it like letter (tucking the edges inside). Transfer each folded rectangle to baking sheet, folded ends facing down and place'em in 2 lines, 3-4 inch apart.
• Bake - Preheat oven at 425 Fahrenheit. Cover with kitchen towel and let rise at room temperature for 60 minutes (or until almost doubles in size) , then bake for 22-25 minutes or until tops are brown and bottom of rolls sound hollow when taped.
• Transfer to a cooling rack. Serve warm or let the bread cool completely, then wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for later. To defrost, I microwave frozen bread for 2 minutes at low power.