Pugliese Bread is a simple white loaf with an open crumb and a chewy crust. A yeasted biga is a basis for this bread. The key to the open crumb is hydration of > 70%. This bread gets its name from the region of Puglia on the south-eastern tip of Italy. This bread is great for making sandwiches or dipping into olive oil. It is also great for making crostini or bruschetta.
Bake the bread on an 18″ x 18″ slab of travertine as my baking stone. Heat the oven to 450 F about 30 minutes before the bread is finished proofing. Then it’s ready to go into the oven. Since it rained pretty much all day , I was doing indoor things. Cooking is always good on a rainy day and bread is a weakness. Today I made two large loaves of Pugliese Bread that tasted great with chewy crust and a soft interior. Pugliese Bread takes a bit longer to make than some plain white breads, but the result is worth the wait.
There is no such city as Puglia. It is a region in the south of Italy. The bread you are describing is Altamura. The best bread is from Matera, just over the Pugliese border in Basilicata. Hope that helps! Nice blog!
Thanks for the info. I stand corrected.
The stone just makes the bread cook better. better crust and crumb.
How does the stone affect the flavor? Yum!