Sourdough Italian-Style French Bread

Do you notice how these pane francese photos seem to be taken at a peculiar angle? How they show most of the loaf surface area but not quite the entire picture? There’s a reason for that. The hidden cropped areas is where the bread exploded like bats out of a cave.

The original recipe specifically advises against steaming and scoring the loaves. Doing either or both would’ve helped the loaves expand in a more controlled manner, but I’m not complaining. It still came out with a fairly open crumb somehow. These slices of toasted crispness and sour chewiness are just begging to be dipped in extra-virgin olive oil.

I went with the lengthier end of the suggested 2 to 3 hours for the final proof. I should’ve let the dough ferment for another hour or so, almost to the point of collapse and overproofing, to prevent said explosions. As with most recipes that rely on the unpredictability of sourdough, your mileage may vary.

By the way, if this post elicits that deja vu feeling (I can only hope that I have readers of the regular persuasion), I previously posted a more slender version of pane francese. I like to call it loaves of ciabatta in baguette form.

recipe adapted from Joe Ortiz’ The Village Baker via King Arthur Flour
Bread Baking Babes: Pane Francese Naturale hosted by Sara
Bake Your Own Bread

Pane Francese Naturale
Sourdough Italian-Style French Bread

makes two loaves

For the First-Stage Lievito Naturale / Sourdough Starter:

Ingredients                  Volume          Ounces          Grams
lievito naturale / sourdough    1/4 cup           1.75          50
water, room temp                1/4 cup           2             57
unbleached bread flour          1/2 cup           2.25          64

First-Stage Lievito Naturale / Sourdough Starter Directions:

1. Cut the sourdough starter into small pieces and place in a bowl. Pour the water over the sourdough starter and stir to dissolve. Add the flour and mix until thoroughly hydrated. Knead for a few minutes until a smooth dough is formed.
2. Place the lievito naturale in a bowl and cover. Let stand at room temperature for about 5 to 6 hours or until doubled in size before using in the second stage.

Second stage sourdough starter cross-section.

For the Second-Stage Lievito Naturale / Sourdough Starter:

Ingredients                  Volume          Ounces          Grams
all of the first-stage lievito naturale
water, room temp                1/2 cup           4            113
unbleached bread flour        1 1/2 cups          6.75         191

Second-Stage Lievito Naturale / Sourdough Starter Directions:

1. Cut the sourdough starter into small pieces and place in a bowl. Pour the water over the sourdough starter and stir to dissolve. Add the flour and mix until thoroughly hydrated. Knead for a few minutes until a smooth dough is formed.
2. Place the lievito naturale in a bowl and cover. Let stand at room temperature for about 3 to 5 hours or until doubled in size before using in the final dough. The second-stage sourdough starter will be much stiffer than the first.

For the Final Sourdough:

Ingredients                  Volume          Ounces          Grams
all of the second-stage lievito naturale, cut into small pieces
water, room temp                3/4 cup           6            170
unbleached bread flour            2 cups          9            255
salt                              2 tsp           0.4           12

Directions:

Mix             In a large bowl, Pour the water over the lievito
                naturale pieces and stir to dissolve. Add the flour
                and salt. Mix until the dough is thoroughly hydrated
                and a shaggy ball is formed.

Rest            Cover the bowl and let stand for about 10 minutes.

Knead           8 to 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and no
                longer sticky.

Bulk Ferment    8 to 10 hours at room temperature

Divide          2 pieces

Preshape        loose rounds

Rest            20 to 30 minutes

Shape           tight round or oval loaves



Preheat Oven    450ºF / 230ºC

Final Proof     2 to 4 hours at room temperature, or until about
                doubled in size

Bake            Bake for 35 to 40 minutes at 450ºF / 230ºC, rotating
                the loaves halfway through baking if necessary.

Cool            Let the loaves cool completely at room temperature,
                at least 1 hour.

Sourdough Italian-style French bread crust and crumb. Exploded crust cropped just above the top border of the photo.

This is a post from Apple Pie, Patis, and Pate
Sourdough Italian-Style French Bread

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5. Peter Reinhart’s French Bread
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