Pane di Solina
Abruzzo · bread · serves 8 · 1080 min total · medium
Solina is an ancient soft-wheat landrace from the Gran Sasso highlands, grown above 800 m where modern strains won't take. The loaf is dense, golden, faintly sweet — the bread of Abruzzese shepherds long before industrial flour reached the mountains.
Ingredients
- 450 g Solina (or soft wheat) flour
- 50 g stoneground durum flour
- 350 ml lukewarm water
- 100 g active sourdough starter
- 10 g fine sea salt
Method
- Mix flours and water in a bowl; rest 40 minutes (autolyse).
- Add starter and salt; pinch and fold until a smooth, sticky dough forms.
- Bulk ferment 4–5 hours at room temperature with stretch-and-folds every 45 min.
- Shape into a round boule, dust with flour, and refrigerate seam-up in a banneton overnight (10–12 hours).
- Heat oven to 240°C (465°F) with a Dutch oven inside.
- Turn the loaf out, score deeply, bake covered 25 min, then uncovered 20–25 min until very dark.
- Cool fully on a rack before slicing — Solina's flavour blooms after an hour.