Pane di Altamura

July 01, 2026

Pane di Altamura

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Puglia - the 'heel' of Italy's 'boot'. The lace of whitewashed hilltop towns, beautiful Mediterranean beaches and ancient olive groves.

Forty-five kilometres southwest of Bari on the east coast, lies Altamura, with its stone alleys, prehistoric sites and medieval architecture.

It's also home to the world-famous pane di Altamura, a bread first mentioned by Horace in 37BC, and recorded regularly since 1420. It was carried by Roman soldiers and travellers and valued for its rustic robustness. The bread was made to last for days.

Today, Pane di Altamura, carries DOP status, which requires it to be made according to certain rules. This means that it has to use certain semolina flour and a Lievito Madre, made from a sourdough starter.

The cathedral in Altamura bears a relief over the main door...the Last Supper, and features pane di Altamura on the table in front of Christ and his disciples.

Ingredients

The Levain

20 gms active sourdough starter culture

60 gms semola rimacinata di grano duro

40 gms warm water (room temperature).

NOTES: whilst the levain is made the night before, you will find that it works best if you make and refresh it for a couple of days before you decide to bake. Firstly, make your sourdough starter as active as possible by feeding and refeeding over a couple of days. Then make a half quantity of the levain, allow it to rise and then, the next day, refeed it with the other half. You can then, refeed it and prepare it for baking according to the quantities above. This process guarantees strength and also delivers a good doubling or tripling of the levain prior to baking.

And now the flour.

Semola Rimacinata di Grano Duro is a remilled, finely milled durum wheat semolina. It's a high-protein bread and pasta flour with a distinct golden-amber colour due to carotenoid pigments. It is the secret to the success of this bread.

The Dough

600 gms semola rimacinata di grano duro

450 gms warmed water (26⁰C / 78⁰F)

12 gms fine sea salt

120 gms of the active levain

The hydration is set at 75%. This is ideal for home bakers. While the bakers of Puglia tend to use less water, the dough it produces is often quite dense and very 'rustic'. Raising the hydration better suits domestic kitchens.

Stage 1: Build the levain

Using the process above, build your levain until it it is active and ready for baking.

Stage 2: Autolyse

Mix 600 gms of the flour with 450 gms of the water and mix until everything is combined. Cover with a cloth and leave, undisturbed, for 45 minutes to allow the flour to hydrate and this helps to build gluten elasticity.

Stage 3: Kneading

Add the levain and mix together thoroughly for 5 minutes. You can knead by hand, or use a machine with a hook and on low speed. Alternatively, use a bread machine pan on a 'Pizza' setting and cancel the programme as necessary.

Now add the salt, and knead the dough aggressively for 15 minutes. You are aiming to produce a velvety, strong golden dough.

You may find the dough to be either a little dry or a little wet....it depends on the quality of your flour. You may need to 'spritz' the dough or add a very small amount of extra flour as required.

Stage 4: Bulk Fermentation

Transfer the dough to a clean container. Stretch and fold the dough twice over the next 90 minutes.

Cover the dough and leave it in a warm place (about 24⁰C / 75⁰F) until it has increased in volume by 70%.

Stage 5: Preshaping and Bench rest

Dust your surface with more of the semolina flour.

Gently tip the dough out onto the surface but handle VERY gently to protect the air bubbles and gas inside the dough.

Gather the loose edges togeter to form a palla - a uniform spherical loaf.

Dust the top with seolima flour, cover and leave it for 15 minutes to rest.

Stage 6: U Sckuanete - the traditional fold.

Gently and slightly flatten the dough sphere with your hands.

Draw in a small amount from both the left and right sides to make the edges clean and tidy. Fold them over the main dough.

Take the upper section and fold it downwards past the centre point.

Draw the bottom line and overlap it completely.

You have now created a heavy, layered, overlapping seam.

DO NOT PRESS OR PINCH THE FOLD SHUT.

Leave the dough, uncovered, on a floured surface for 15 minutes. It will skin over; this is fine.

Now cover it and allow it to continue proofing until the dough springs back slowly, when pressed and leaves a slight, shallow indentation (otherwise known as the 'proof test'). This means the gluten network is relaxed and aerated, but still structured

Stage 7: Baking

Preheat your oven, baking stone, pizza stone or Dutch Oven (as you wish) to 230⁰C (Conventional) - 450⁰F. Add a pan of water if you are cooking uncovered to produce steam.

Press down lightly on the centre line of the dough before transferring it to the oven.

DO NOT SCORE THE BREAD, THE FOLD ACTS AS A NATURAL 'FAULT LINE'.

I'm baking this in a terracotta roaster. I'll preheat the roaster and then transfer the dough to it before returning it to the oven and putting the lid in place. It'll bake for 20 minutes as below, and then I'll remove the lid, drop the temperature and keep on baking.

Bake with steam for 20 minutes.

Then, remove the source of the steam, drop the temperature to 200⁰C / 392⁰F and continue baking for about 35+ minutes until the loaf has a thick, deep mahogany crust.

For the final 5 minutes of baking, wedge open the oven door ajar to release the internal steam and allow the outer crust to crisp.