Pane di Venafro
Molise · bread · serves 10 · 900 min total · medium
Venafro sits on the Roman Via Latina and is one of Italy's oldest olive-oil towns — Cato wrote about its oil in 160 BC. The local bread is dressed simply with that same oil, a thread of green across the warm crust.
Ingredients
- 400 g stoneground soft wheat flour
- 100 g semola rimacinata
- 350 ml warm water
- 120 g natural sourdough
- 12 g fine sea salt
Method
- Combine flours and water; rest 30 min.
- Add starter and salt. Knead 8–10 minutes to a smooth, hydrated dough.
- Bulk ferment 5 hours with three stretch-and-folds.
- Shape into a large oval (filone). Place seam-up in a long floured cloth-lined basket.
- Cold-proof 8 hours.
- Heat oven to 240°C (465°F) with stone and steam.
- Turn out, slash three diagonal cuts. Bake 20 min at 240°C, then 40 min at 200°C (390°F).
- Drizzle the warm crust with a thread of the local Venafro olive oil before cooling — it is the regional signature.