Ciabatta Rolls | Cookstr.com

Pour the water into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the yeast, flour, salt, sugar, and olive oil and stir with a rubber spatula just long enough to blend into a dough. With the dough hook, mix the dough on low speed (2 on a KitchenAid® mixer) for 3 minutes. Turn the speed to medium-high (8 on a KitchenAid® mixer) and knead until it clears the sides of the bowl and collects on the hook, becoming smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes more. At this speed, the mixer will “walk” possibly off the counter, so do not leave it unattended.

(Alternatively, in a food processor combine the yeast, flour, salt, and sugar and pulse 2 or 3 times to combine. With the motor running, pour the water and oil into the feed tube and process until the dough forms a smooth ball. To knead, continue to process for 30 seconds.)

Oil a 7 x 11-inch baking dish. Scrape the dough into the dish and pat it with oiled fingertips to flatten it. Let it rest and relax for 5 minutes, then use lightly oiled fingertips to push and stretch it across the bottom of the dish. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free spot until it has more than doubled in volume and reaches the top of the pan, about 2 hours.

Lightly oil a large baking sheet. Uncover the dough and place the baking sheet, right side down, on top of the dough. Invert the dish onto the baking sheet and shake once or twice to release the dough onto the sheet.

Use a sharp chef’s knife to cut the dough into 6 squares, and use the edge of the knife to push the squares 3 inches apart on the baking sheet. Put 4 short drinking glasses near the corners of the pan and drape a sheet or two of plastic wrap over them so that it covers the dough pieces and keeps them moist but does not touch them. Let the dough pieces stand until they have expanded by about 50 percent, about 40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Remove the plastic and glasses and bake the rolls until dark golden brown, about 20 minutes. Brush the hot rolls with olive oil. Let cool completely on the baking sheet before slicing with a sharp serrated knife.