Quick And Easy Artisan Ciabatta

Total Time: 40 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• 1 lb refrigerated bread dough (quick and easy artisan boule (french free-form loaf))
• flour, for the pizza peel

Recipe

• 1 cut off a 1 pound (grapefruit sized) piece of refrigerated dough without dusting the surface with flour. wet hands will help prevent sticking. using your wet hands, shape the dough into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter turn as you go. with your wet fingers, flatten the ball into an elongated oval about 1 inch thick. don't make it thinner than 1 inch or it will puff like pita bread.
• 2 turn on oven to 450 degrees f with a baking stone on the middle rack. place an empty broiler tray on any other shelf that will not interfere with the bread.
• 3 place the loaf on a flour-covered pizza peel and allow to rest for 20 minutes. dust the top of the loaf with flour but do not slash with a knife.
• 4 slide the loaf directly onto the hot stone. you may need the assistance of a steel dough scraper or spatula. pour 1 cup of hot tap water onto the broiler tray and quickly close the oven door.
• 5 bake for about 20 minutes or until deeply brown. allow to cool on a rack before cutting or eating.