Puccia Ladina

Name: Puccia Ladina
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Alpine Italian
Ingredients: 300 g rye flour; 200 g strong white bread flour; 350 ml lukewarm water; 15 g Fresh yeast; 10 g Fine sea salt; 4 g Caraway seeds; 4 g fennel seeds; 1 g blue fenugreek

Puccia Ladina is a soft, fragrant Alpine rye flatbread from the Ladin valleys, spiced with caraway and fennel seeds, known as pucia in the Ladin language.

🇮🇹Italy· Trentino-Alto Adige

Prep: 30 min
Cook: 25 min
Total: 55 min
Servings: 6
Difficulty: Medium
Calories: 240 kcal

Ingredients

0 of 8 gathered

Servings

300 g rye flour — fine dark or medium rye
200 g strong white bread flour — type 0 or strong baker's flour
350 ml lukewarm water — around 35 degrees C
15 g Fresh yeast — crumbled
10 g Fine sea salt — approx 1.5 teaspoons
4 g Caraway seeds — whole caraway
4 g fennel seeds — whole fennel seeds
1 g blue fenugreek — ground bread clover / trigonella, optional

Equipment

•Large mixing bowl
•Baking sheet
•Baking paper
•Measuring scale
•Wire cooling rack
•Damp tea towel

Nutrition

Per serving, approximate

Calories: 240 kcal
fat: 1.5 g
carbs: 50 g
fibre: 6 g
protein: 7 g
calories: 240 kcal

Instructions

1
Dissolve the fresh yeast in lukewarm water inside a large mixing bowl.
2
Add the rye flour, white bread flour, salt, caraway, fennel seeds, and blue fenugreek.
3
Stir with a sturdy wooden spoon until a sticky, wet dough forms.
4
Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and leave to ferment in a warm spot for one hour.
5
Line a large baking sheet with baking paper and dust generously with rye flour.
6
Divide the sticky dough into six equal mounds directly onto the prepared sheet.
7
Dust your fingers with rye flour and gently pat each mound into a round flat disc.
8
Leave the dough rounds to prove uncovered for twenty minutes until slightly puffed and surface-cracked.
9
Preheat your oven to 220 degrees C.
10
Bake for twenty to twenty-five minutes until golden-brown and sounding hollow when tapped underneath.
11
Transfer the loaves to a wire cooling rack and cover with a clean tea towel to keep them soft.

Chef's tips

Rye dough is naturally sticky because it contains little gluten; do not knead it heavily or add extra flour. Covering the baked loaves with a clean cloth immediately after baking traps steam, ensuring the classic soft crust.

Ingredient substitutions

fresh yeast → 5 g dried instant yeast stirred directly into the dry flour
blue fenugreek → an extra pinch of crushed fennel seeds or aniseed

Storage

Store in a breathable linen bread bag or paper bag at room temperature for up to three days.

Reheating

Warm briefly in a moderate oven at 160 degrees C for five minutes to refresh the soft crumb.

Common mistakes to avoid

•Adding too much extra flour when shaping, which creates a dense and dry loaf.
•Baking at too low a temperature, which dries out the interior before the crust browns.
•Omitting the caraway and fennel, which provide the essential alpine Ladin flavour profile.

Serving suggestions

Split open warm and spread with salted mountain butter and thin slices of cured Speck.Serve alongside robust alpine cheeses such as Graukäse or mild Fontal.Eat alongside a hearty bowl of traditional barley and vegetable soup.