Pane Di Altamura Recipes

ALTAMURA STYLE SOURDOUGH BREAD

Steps:

• Build the stiff levain and let it double-to-triple in size.
• Mix all of the dough ingredients, including the ripe stiff levain, until they're incorporated.
• Scrape the dough out onto a clean surface, and slap and fold the dough for about 7 minutes to develop the gluten. See this video for reference.
• Transfer the dough to a clean container, cover, and let it double in size over the next 4-6 hours. You can continue to develop the gluten with coil folding or a lamination if you wish.
• Scrape out the dough onto a floured surface and prehape it into a ball. Cover and let it rest and have a final proof for about 1 hour.
• Thirty minutes before the end of the final proof, begin preheating your oven to 500F with a round baking vessel inside. You can also bake the bread on a stone with a steam system or an upside-down roaster pan as a lid.
• Shape your dough in the high form as in this video, or the low form, which is like a boule.
• Load the dough into your baking vessel and drop the temperature to 480F.
• Bake 25 minutes at 480F covered and another 10-15 minutes at 450F uncovered.
• The internal temperature of the bread should be over 205F when finished baking.

PANE DI ALTAMURA

Steps:

• The Starter
• In a medium bowl, stir the yeast into the warm water and permit it to rest and dissolve for 15 minutes. Add the tepid water and the flour and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon for a minute or two. Transfer the mixture into a very lightly oiled larger bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and permit the starter to rise at room temperature for not less than 8 hours, preferably overnight.
• The Dough
• In a large bowl, stir the yeast into the warm water and permit it to rest and dissolve for 15 minutes. Add the starter and the tepid water to the rested yeast and, with your hands, break down the fibrous, stringy texture of the starter, incorporating the water and yeast into it and, finally, with a wooden spoon, beat the components into a smooth batter.
• Add the flour and the salt and, with your hands, combine the components into a rough dough. Turn the dough out onto a very lightly floured work surface and knead it energetically into a smooth, resilient, wettish sort of dough. The task takes at least 8 minutes.
• Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover it tightly with plastic wrap, and permit it to rise for 1 1/2 hours.
• Turn the dough out onto the work surface, divide it in two, and form each piece into a fat oval, flattening its ends a bit, pinching them into "tails." Carefully transfer the formed loaves onto baking parchment. Cover the breads with clean kitchen towels and permit them a 45-minute rest. Holding the ends of the parchment, turn the breads over onto a baker's peel or onto baking sheets. Holding one hand perpendicular to the loaf, give it a deft smash a little to the left of its center. This little rite imposes the bread's traditional clefted heart form. Shake the loaves off the peel onto a preheated baking stone, sprinkled lightly with semolina, or place the loaves, on their baking sheets, in the oven.
• Bake the breads for 30 to 35 minutes or until they are deeply golden and have formed a thick, hard crust. The process of misting will help accomplish this (page 214). Permit the breads to rest in the oven with the door open for 15 minutes. Cool them thoroughly on a wooden surface.
• This is the sort of bread one can break rather than slice, passing it round the table so each guest can tear off a chunk.