Hard-dough bread: the recipe

Name: Hard-dough bread
Total time: 13 h 20 min
Yield: 12 pieces of 150 g
Ingredients: 142 g Wheat flour; 71 g Water; 42 g Sourdough starter; 1038 g Wheat flour; 456 g Water; 22 g Salt; 6.6 g Barley malt

Hard-dough bread ("pane a pasta dura") is a product of the Italian tradition, characterised by a very low-hydration dough (around 40-45% water on the flour) often enriched with a small amount of fat, such as lard or oil.

This recipe contains no fat, but see for example the Coppia ferrarese or the Mantovana, which do contain lard.

The bread has a smooth, thin, crackly crust, set against a very compact, dense, dry and tender crumb inside. It keeps well for several days without drying out, and is particularly good for mopping up sauces.

This recipe is freely inspired by, or adapted from, a formula by Master Piergiorgio Giorilli.

At a glance

Method: Preferment, with autolyse (30 min)
Preferment: Sourdough starter — 12% of the flour
Mixing: Stand mixer

Number of pieces: 12
Weight per piece: 150 g
Preferment weight: 254 g
Dough weight: 1522 g
Total dough weight: 1800 g

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Ingredients

Quantities for 12 pieces of 150 g, kitchen at 21 °C

Preferment

Wheat flour (W280)142 g
Water71 g
Sourdough starter42 g

Dough

Wheat flour (W280)1038 g
Water456 g
Salt22 g
Barley malt6.6 g

Want to change the ingredients or use your own flour? The calculator redoes quantities and timing. Open the calculator

Method

Lievito madre: make it and let it ferment (at room temperature) (9 hours)
- Weigh the ingredients
- Use water at 30 °C
- Mix the flour, water and starter until you get a smooth batter
- Transfer to a container, covered but not airtight
It matures in 8-10 hours at 20-22 °C (21 °C/9h used here, the centre of the range). Alternatively, submerge it, in a closed container, in a water bath at 18 °C for 10-12 hours: change the room temperature in the app and the hours update on their own.
Weigh the ingredients and knead (50 min)
- Use water at 24 °C
Mix in this order: flour, water, malt, and salt last.
End of mixing, start of bulk rise (at room temperature) (10 min)
Divide/shape: weigh and form the pieces (20 min)
After bulk fermentation, sheet the dough (a manual sheeter such as an Imperia works fine) until smooth and even, then divide and shape it straight away, with no further resting in between.
Start of proofing (at room temperature) (3 hours)
Let it rise at 28 °C for 3 hours — warmer than the 21 °C used above: find a warm spot, or an oven with just the light on. Before baking, score the loaves lengthwise.
Ready to cook

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Baking

- conventional oven, with steam
- Overall temperature: 225 °C
- Time: until done
- Light steam. After a few minutes lower the temperature by 20 °C and finish baking with the valve/vent open. Baking time depends on the size of the loaves.

The calculator adapts baking times to the weight of your pieces. Open the calculator

Preparation notes

Lard (traditional variant): To follow tradition you can add 3% to 5% lard on the weight of the flour. For Coppia ferrarese or Mantovana variants, aim for around 4%.

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