Types of Italian Bread

How do you say bread in Italian? 

Pa-ne (PAH-ne)!

That’s it, now you know how to say bread in italian, but what about the recipe? Read on and learn about the different types of Italian bread. Get to know the ingredients, learn the tricks of the trade and turn your kitchen into a bakery!

Authentic Italian Bread Proverbs

Bread is so important in Italy that there are countless proverbs which mention it. Sei buono come il pane, i.e. “you’re as good as bread” is probably the most significant. The intended meaning is: bread is reliable, honest, straightforward… if you are as good as bread you can never be deceitful or mean. 

Whatever the type and wherever you eat it Italian bread is simply marvelous!

How to Make Italian Bread

Italian bread recipes vary from region to region, allowing for a flavorful selection. You’ll see that all are basically made with flour, water and sourdough or yeast. But the grains used, as well as the kneading, shaping and baking techniques, are different.

Top 10 Tastiest Quintessential Types of Italian Bread

Pane di Altamura

A traditional Italian sourdough bread made with local re-milled durum wheat semolina in the area of Altamura, Apulia. Very fragrant, with a crunchy crust and chewy soft pale yellow inside. Shaped like a wide hat it is conventionally baked in wood-fired ovens exclusively fed with oak. 

Pane di Patate Abruzzese

Made with durum wheat semolina (in Italian it is called semola di grano duro), local solina grain flour, boiled potatoes, water, salt and yeast in the Abruzzo region. Wondering why they added the potatoes? To save on flour, once much more expensive. The result is a crispy crust and soft sweet-scented inside.

Marocca – Chestnut flour bread from Casola Lunigiana

An ancient authentic Italian bread recipe from Lunigiana made with distinctive ingredients. Chestnut flour, wheat flour, boiled and mashed potatoes are blended with extra-virgin olive oil, yeast, a piece of sourdough starter and water. The dough needs to rise for over an hour before being baked in a wood-fired oven. (curious about Lunigiana? Check it out here 

Pane Nero di Segale del Trentino

Whole grain rye bread typical of Trentino-Alto Adige, Northern Italy. Made with rye and wheat flour, sourdough, water, salt and herbs and/or seeds as and when available. Luscious local versions include Val Badia bread – with flax, sunflower and pumpkin seeds – and Bolzano bread with added barley and oat flours.

Bozza Pratese

Signature bread of the town of Prato, Tuscany. An ancient farmer’s bread still produced according to tradition. Wheat flour, sourdough, salt and water are blended and left to rise, before being shaped into 1 kg rectangular-shaped loaves and baked in a wood-fired oven

Neapolitan Pane Cafone 

Ancient Neapolitan peasant bread made with wheat flour, salt, water and la criscita – a sourdough starter. It rises very slowly, wrapped in jute, on wooden boards. Ivory colored and soft inside it has a crunchy thick crust and is delicious and fragrant for at least a week.   

Pane Carasau

Thin crunchy unleavened flatbread typical of Sardinia made with durum wheat flour, salt, yeast and water. The name derives from the local dialect, where “carasare” means breadcrust. Thin and crispy it’s used for a variety of delicious dishes.

Pane Toscano

Tuscan bread. Pale-crusted, salt-free, and uniquely fragrant. Perfect to make crispy toasted bruschetta with extra virgin olive oil and tomato. Or fettunta, with white cannellini beans and oil. Hungry? Ok, make it yourself! See a full detailed made-in-Florence video.

Coppia Ferrarese

Wheat flour, lard, malt, olive oil, sourdough and salt moulded into a delicate bread. The Coppia Ferrarese is typical of Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, it apparently owes its distinctive twisted shape to the curls of Lucrezia Borgia, wife of Duke Alfonso d’Este. Bread and seduction…how Italian can you get!

Pane di Matera

Made in Basilicata with 100% local ancient grain semolina and hand-kneaded by experts. Baked in the characteristic horseshoe shape in the blazing wood-fired ovens of Matera, Basilicata, it is fragrant and wonderfully crusty.

Easy Italian Bread Recipe

Craving something good, warm, healthy and easy to make? Looking for an easy and authentic Italian Bread Recipe? Something flavorsome, well-seasoned and fragrant?

Follow our pro’s tips and master the art. Make Focaccia Bread today!

What is Focaccia Bread?

Doused with olive oil and sometimes seasoned with rosemary it’s Italy’s fancier version of bread, something more special and beloved by kids. You can serve it with a meal, use it to make sandwiches, or enjoy it alone, as a snack. Focaccia bread is always fabulous. 

How to Make Focaccia Bread

Focaccia Bread Prep time: 20 minutes plus 3 hours to rise 

Focaccia Bread Cooking time: 15/20 minutes

Focaccia Bread you will need: 

• a stand mixer
• a regular oven
• parchment paper

Focaccia Bread Ingredients: 

• 465g of strong bread flour
• 10g of fast-action dried yeast
• 12g of salt
• 300ml of water
• 4 sprigs of rosemary
• olive oil
• sea salt

Focaccia Bread Method:

• Place the flour, salt and yeast into the bowl of a stand mixer, slowly add the water;
• Knead for 5 minutes until smooth;
• Cover and leave to rise for 2 hours;
• Line a tin with parchment paper, oil thoroughly;
• Add the dough, stretching it well into the corners with your fingers. Cover and leave to rise for an hour;
• Meantime preheat the oven to 230c/gas mark 8 and stem your rosemary sprigs;
• Once your hour is over drizzle the focaccia with olive oil, push the rosemary into the dough with your fingers and sprinkle with sea salt;
• Cook for 15-20 minutes, brushing it with olive oil every now and then while it cooks;

Buon Appetito!

Italian Sourdough Bread

A great many types of Italian bread are made with sourdough. This, mainly, because authentic Italian bread comes from ancient traditional recipes. Sourdough, thousands of years old, is the ancestor of yeast.

What is Sourdough?

It’s a culture of yeasts and good bacteria that naturally come to life in flour and dough. Because the yeasts are varied and not artificially concentrated they raise the dough more slowly. 

Italian Sourdough Bread… Complicated?

No, actually. it’s really simple! Take some starter (ask your best local baker), refresh it with flour and water and let it be until the yeast population has grown. Then add flour, water, salt (and anything else the recipe calls for) to a piece of this mixture and make your bread. Keep a little bit of the original mixture, and use it as a starter for the next batch. 

Why does Sourdough Taste Better?

Dough that has risen slowly, naturally, makes for tastier lighter-textured bread. The crust is crisp, and the bread stays fresh longer. That’s what makes so many types of Italian bread good and fragrant for over 5 days

Why Sourdough Bread is Better for you?

According to nutritionists and physicians sourdough bread is much better for our health than normal bread. Lower phytate levels make it easier to digest and more nutritious. Above all it has a lower glycemic load, meaning it does not  spike your blood sugar levels as much as yeasted bread.