Sourdough Spelt Ciabatta Bread

Making bread at home is a fun and healthy alternative to the store bought version. With this sourdough ciabatta bread, you can enjoy it for a sandwich, to dip into a soup, enjoy it with some jams on top such as this rhubarb jam, or even a savoury option such as this milk kefir cheese spread! This recipe came to us from Lisa in the Gut Health Guru’s Facebook Group!

Ingredients:

- 500 grams of spelt flour

- 10 grams of dried yeast

- 1/2 teaspoon of salt

- 1 teaspoon poppy seeds

- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds

- 500 ml warm water (not hot!)

- 4 Tablespoons of sourdough starter (fresh starter or discard)

- Olive oil

Method:

Preheat oven to 200C, not fan forced
Combine flour and yeast, then add in the warm water and stir.
After it’s mixed, add in the sourdough starter and salt and mix well.
In a large glass bowl (that has been well oiled), put the dough mixture in and cover with plastic and leave in a warm room for 1 hour to double in size.
Flour your bench, put dough mixture on the bench, and move it around with your hands. It is a wetter mixture than usual bread so make sure you have your spelt flour on hand so you can add/dust a little more at a time as you need it.
Place it back in a well-oiled glass bowl and leave for 30 minutes.
Place on a lined baking tray and rub olive oil over the top and sprinkle seeds. Place into the oven and cook for around 30-40 minutes. Check after 30 minutes, tap the bottom of the bread and if it sounds hollow, then the bread is done.
Cool on a wire rack and enjoy by itself or with a soup like this miso soup or this creamy whitefish chowder!