Pugliese

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •5 to 6 quart Dutch oven with lid
• •Digital kitchen scale
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •9-inch proofing basket (banneton) or bowl with kitchen towel
• •Bench scraper
• •Lame or sharp serrated knife
• •Wire cooling rack

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the biga

   The night before baking, combine the bread flour, cool water, and yeast in a medium bowl. Mix with a wooden spoon until no dry flour remains. The mixture will be stiff and shaggy, almost like a rough dough. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let ferment at room temperature (68 to 72°F) for 12 to 16 hours. When ready, the biga will have doubled, domed slightly, and smell yeasty and mildly alcoholic. You'll see bubbles across the surface.

   If your kitchen runs warm, use ice water and refrigerate the biga. Cold fermentation works fine; just give it the full 16 hours.
2. 2

   Combine the dough

   Tear the biga into rough pieces and place in a large mixing bowl. Add the warm water and use your hands to break apart the biga until mostly dissolved. Some lumps are fine. Add both flours, the salt, and the yeast. Mix with a wooden spoon, then your hands, until a shaggy mass forms. The dough will feel wet and sticky. This is correct. Resist the urge to add flour.

   Wetting your hands before mixing prevents sticking without adding extra flour that would tighten the crumb.
3. 3

   Develop the gluten

   Let the dough rest in the bowl, covered, for 20 minutes. This autolyse allows the flour to hydrate fully. Then perform a series of stretch and folds: wet your hand, grab one side of the dough, stretch it up and fold it over itself. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees and repeat. Do this four times to complete one round. Cover and rest 30 minutes. Repeat the stretch and fold sequence three more times, with 30 minute rests between each round. By the final round, the dough will feel smoother, more elastic, and will hold its shape better.

   You're building strength gently. Each round should feel easier as the gluten develops. If the dough tears instead of stretching, you're being too aggressive.
4. 4

   Bulk fermentation

   After the final stretch and fold, cover the bowl and let the dough rise at room temperature until roughly doubled in size, about 2 to 3 hours depending on your kitchen's warmth. The dough is ready when it looks puffy and billowy, with visible bubbles beneath the surface. When you poke it gently with a wet finger, the indent should spring back slowly, not snap back instantly or stay depressed.

   Watch the dough, not the clock. A warm kitchen speeds fermentation; a cool one slows it. The visual and tactile cues matter more than timing.
5. 5

   Shape the loaf

   Generously flour your work surface with rice flour or semolina. Gently turn the dough out, being careful to preserve the air bubbles. Flour your hands and the top of the dough. Using a bench scraper and your hands, shape the dough into a round by tucking the edges underneath, rotating as you go to build surface tension. The bottom seam doesn't need to be perfectly sealed. Transfer the shaped loaf, seam side up, into a well-floured proofing basket or a bowl lined with a floured kitchen towel. The floured top becomes the bottom; the seam becomes the top for baking.

   Handle high-hydration dough with confidence but without aggression. Quick, decisive movements prevent sticking better than hesitant poking.
6. 6

   Final proof

   Cover the basket loosely with plastic wrap or a damp towel. Let the dough proof at room temperature for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or refrigerate overnight for a slower rise and more complex flavor. The loaf is ready when it has visibly expanded and feels pillowy. When you press gently, the indent should spring back slowly but not completely. If it springs back quickly, proof longer. If the indent stays, you've overproofed, but the bread will still be good, just denser.

   The overnight cold proof is worth planning for. It deepens flavor, makes scoring easier, and lets you bake fresh bread with morning coffee.
7. 7

   Preheat with the pot

   At least 45 minutes before baking, place your Dutch oven with its lid inside your oven and preheat to 475°F (245°C). The pot must be screaming hot. This trapped heat mimics the steam-injected deck ovens of professional bakeries. Without it, you won't achieve that shattering Pugliese crust.

   A 5 to 6 quart Dutch oven works perfectly. Enameled or bare cast iron, either serves. Just ensure the lid fits tightly.
8. 8

   Score and load

   Cut a piece of parchment paper slightly larger than your loaf. Invert the proofing basket onto the parchment so the loaf releases seam side down, flour side up. Using a sharp razor blade or serrated knife held at a 30-degree angle, score the top with a single decisive slash about 1/2 inch deep, or create a square pattern traditional to Pugliese. Don't hesitate. Confident cuts open cleanly; timid ones drag. Carefully remove the hot pot from the oven. Lift the loaf by the parchment edges and lower it into the pot. Cover with the lid.

   The score controls where the loaf expands. Without it, the crust will crack randomly. Traditional Pugliese often features a square or cross pattern.
9. 9

   Bake covered

   Bake with the lid on for 25 minutes. The trapped steam allows maximum oven spring, the dramatic rise that happens in the first minutes of baking. During this phase, the crust stays flexible enough for the loaf to expand fully. Resist opening the oven to peek. Every time you open the door, you lose heat and steam.

   If baking a cold, refrigerated loaf, add 5 minutes to the covered baking time.
10. 10

    Bake uncovered

    Remove the lid and continue baking for 18 to 22 minutes until the crust turns deep golden brown, almost mahogany in the darkest spots. The loaf should sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. For the thick, crackly crust characteristic of Pugliese, don't pull the bread too early. Color equals flavor in crust. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read 205 to 210°F (96 to 99°C).

    Turn off the oven, crack the door, and let the loaf sit inside for 5 extra minutes. This dries the crust further, improving its shatter.
11. 11

    Cool completely

    Transfer the loaf to a wire rack and let it cool for at least 1 hour before slicing. This is not optional. The interior continues cooking as it cools, and cutting too soon releases steam that should be redistributing through the crumb. A prematurely cut loaf will be gummy, no matter how perfectly you baked it. Listen for the crust crackling as it cools. That sound is the reward for patience.

Chef Tips

• •Semola rimacinata is finely milled durum wheat flour, not the coarse semolina used for pasta. Look for it at Italian grocers or order online. Bob's Red Mill semolina flour works in a pinch, though the texture will be slightly grittier.
• •Weigh your ingredients. Flour measurements by volume can vary by 20 percent depending on how you scoop. For bread, this difference determines success or failure. A $15 kitchen scale pays for itself in the first loaf.
• •This bread keeps well. Store cut-side down on a wooden board at room temperature for 3 days. After that, slice and freeze. Toast frozen slices directly; they crisp beautifully.
• •Pugliese is the ideal bruschetta base. The sturdy crumb holds up to tomatoes and oil without turning to mush. Toast thick slices over an open flame if you have a gas burner, or under a broiler until charred at the edges.
• •Pair this bread with robust Southern Italian wines: a Primitivo from Puglia or a Nero d'Avola from Sicily. The bread's sweetness from the durum wheat complements the dark fruit in these reds.

Advance Preparation

• •The biga must ferment 12 to 16 hours before mixing the dough. Plan to start it the evening before you want to bake.
• •Shaped dough can proof in the refrigerator overnight (up to 14 hours) for convenience and deeper flavor. Bake directly from cold, adding 5 minutes to the covered baking time.
• •Baked loaves freeze beautifully for up to 2 months. Wrap tightly in plastic, then foil. Thaw at room temperature and refresh in a 350°F oven for 10 minutes to restore crust crackle.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 slice (about 113g)