Pane di Altamura

A tall durum loaf on a natural leaven, folded over itself rather than shaped round.

Vegan.

Ingredients

• 1 kg remilled durum semolina
• 800 ml water
• 300 g active natural leaven, refreshed twice
• 25 g sea salt

Method

1. REMILLED DURUM SEMOLINA, not bread flour and not coarse semolina. It is yellow, drinks far more water than wheat flour, and gives the dense yellow crumb the loaf is known for. Substituting strong white flour gives a good loaf that is a different one.
2. Refresh the leaven twice in the twelve hours before mixing, so it is at its most active.
3. Mix the semolina with 700 ml of the water and let it stand 40 minutes before adding the leaven and salt. Durum hydrates slowly and this rest is what lets it take 80 per cent water at all.
4. Work the last 100 ml in gradually, then fold the dough in the bowl every 30 minutes for 3 hours.
5. SHAPE IT BY FOLDING ONE SIDE OVER THE OTHER AND NOT SEALING IT, so it bakes with a high crown and a lip. That fold is the shape of the loaf, not a decoration.
6. Prove 2 hours, seam up.
7. Bake at 250C with steam for 20 minutes, then 210C for a further 45. It wants a long bake and a very dark crust.
8. Cool it completely, at least 4 hours. Cut warm, the crumb drags and goes gummy.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Italy · All recipes