Pane cafone (Neapolitan peasant bread) – original Italian recipe (VIDEO)

There’s nothing better than slicing into a loaf of freshly baked bread… make your own peasant bread by following the pane cafone recipe, one of the best baked products in Italy!

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Pane cafone
for two 2-lb (850 g) loaves

For the first dough
• 2,5 oz (70 g) of sourdough starter
• 2/3 cup (80 g) of all-purpose flour
• 1/5 cup (50 g) of water
For the second dough
• the first dough
• ¾ cup (90 g) of all-purpose flour
• 1/5 cup (50 g) of water
For the main dough
• the second dough
• 3 ½ cups (450 g) of all-purpose flour
• 3 ¼ cups (400 g) of durum flour
• 2 1/3 cups (550 g) of water
• 1 1/3 tbsp (25 g) of salt

Take the sourdough starter: remove the top layer and weigh out 2,5 oz (70 g). Add the water and mix to dissolve. Add the flour and bring the ingredients together, after that transfer the dough to a work surface and knead for a few minutes until nice and smooth. Collect any bits of dough and get it off your hands, so as not to waste any sourdough starter. The first dough is ready, now form into a ball, place in a bowl, cover with cling film and let it rest in a warm place until doubled in size. And here’s the dough after 3 hours, it’s risen and doubled in size. Now make the second dough, so place the first dough in a bowl, add the water and mix: it’s the same procedure as before. Once the dough is dissolved, add the flour. The first two doughs call for all-purpose flour, whereas the main dough calls also for durum flour. Bring the ingredients together, transfer to the pastry board and do the same as before. Scrape the dough off your hands and form into a ball. Scrape the dough off the work surface, too. Remember that you can ask your baker for sourdough starter or you can make your own by following the Yellowsaffron recipe. The dough is nice and smooth, form into a ball shape, place in a bowl, cover with cling film and let it rise in a warm place for at least 3 hours, until doubled in size. This is the second dough, which has risen and doubled in size. Now make the main dough and form the loaves, or a round loaf, as desired. Put the risen dough in a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, and add half of the water. Mix at the minimum speed until the dough is dissolved, to prevent the water from splashing out. Begin to add the flour, alternating with the water. Make sure that the salt is fully incorporated. The dough is clumping together, so turn off the mixer, remove the dough from the paddle, replace with the dough hook and beat at low speed for about 10 minutes, until the dough gathers around the hook and cleans the sides of the bowl. The dough has formed a ball around the hook, so turn it out onto the pastry board, that has been lightly floured. Now fold it a few times, in order to strengthen the dough and get it to rise upwards. Place the dough on the pastry board, stretch it out a bit and fold it in this way: fold one side toward the middle, do the same with the opposite side, turn it around, stretch it out a bit and repeat the folds. Let it rest for at least 15-20 minutes. Repeat the same folds as before and wait for another 15-20 minutes. Take the dough, divide in half and work each piece in this way, then flatten into a square-rectangular shape and roll it up, pressing down with your fingers and thumbs, to form into a long loaf shape; pinch the dough along the seam to seal and place in a baking pan with a clean cloth, generously dusted with durum flour; arrange the cloth so as to separate one loaf from the other, so they will be easier to grab when turning them out for baking; sprinkle with plenty of durum flour on top. Fold the sides of the cloth over to cover the loaves, then cover the baking pan with cling film or with a plastic food bag. After 10 hours of rising, gently remove the plastic bag and turn out the loaves onto a piece of parchment paper, the same size as the baking tray, meanwhile preheat the oven to 465°F (240°C), leaving the baking tray in the oven, so that it’s already nice and hot. Before baking, spray the oven with cold water at least 3-4 times, then bake the bread and spray another 3-4 times with water. Handle the dough as less as possible to keep it from collapsing. Make a few diagonal cuts on top with a sharp knife. Take the preheated baking tray and slide the parchment paper with the bread onto it. Bake at 465°F (240°C) for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 390°F (200°C) and bake for another 15-20 minutes.