Pane toscano (unsalted Tuscan bread)
Vegetarian
Pane toscano
Tuscany's famous saltless loaf: a crisp, pale-gold crust and a fairly firm, even crumb that is deliberately bland, made to partner salty cured meats, pecorino and bread soups like ribollita.
Pane toscano (unsalted Tuscan bread) is an Italian bread from Italy, ready in about 12 hours 5 minutes and made with bread flour and instant yeast. It serves 12 and is rated intermediate to cook.
No licensed photograph of this dish yet.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 40 min
- Rest
- 11 h
- Total
- 12 h 5 min
- Serves
- 12
- Level
- Intermediate
- Calories
- 151
Method
Step 1
Mix the sponge ingredients into a soft dough, cover and leave at room temperature for 6–8 hours until bubbly and doubled.
- 3 min
Step 2
Add the dough flour, water and yeast to the sponge and knead 10 minutes until smooth and elastic and a small piece stretches into a thin windowpane. Without salt the gluten tightens less, so the dough will feel slacker and stickier than usual.
How it looks · Photo: Klaus Nielsen on Pexels Step 3
Cover and bulk ferment about 1 hour, until roughly doubled. Saltless dough ferments fast — check it early.
- 1 min
Step 4
Shape into a fat oval (filone) or round, place on floured parchment, cover and proof 40–60 minutes until a gentle poke springs back slowly. Heat the oven (opens in a new tab) to 230 °C (fan 210 °C) with a tray and roasting tin inside.
- 5 min
How it looks · Photo: locrifa on Pexels Step 5
Dust with flour, cut one long slash, slide onto the hot tray and add boiling water to the roasting tin. Bake 15 minutes, remove the water, lower the oven (opens in a new tab) to 210 °C (fan 190 °C) and bake 25 minutes more until golden and hollow-sounding (about 96 °C inside).
- 40 min
- 230°C · fan 210 °C; 210 °C (fan 190 °C) after 15 minutes
- Oven (opens in a new tab)
- Baking tray / sheet (opens in a new tab)
- Roasting pan (opens in a new tab)
- Bread lame (opens in a new tab)
Food safety: Pour water for steam carefully and stand back — the burst of steam can scald hands and face. Don't pour water onto a glass oven door.
About this dish
- Origin
- Tuscany, Italy · Well documentedWhy Tuscan bread is unsalted is often explained by historic salt taxes; that story is popular but not firmly documented.More food from Italy
- Dish
- Lunch · Dinner · Breads & flatbreads
- Cooking method
- Oven-baked, Fermented
- Taste
- mild, nutty
- Diet
- Vegan · Dairy-free · No nut ingredientsWorked out from the ingredients. How labels work
All labels
Vegan · Plant-based · Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Ovo-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · Low-fat · Low-sodium · DASH-style - Good for
- Budget-friendly · Everyday
- Cook more with
- Bread flour · Instant yeast
- Techniques
- Roasting · Baking · Boiling · Kneading · Fermentation
Allergens
- Contains: Wheatfrom bread flour
- Contains: Glutenfrom bread flour
Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.
Nutrition
151 kcal per serving
Calculated1 serving ≈ 60 g · recipe makes 12
Where the energy comes from
- Protein 14%
- Carbohydrate 82%
- Fat 4%
| Nutrient | Per serving | Per 100 g |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 151 kcal | 251 kcal |
| Protein | 5 g | 8.4 g |
| Carbohydrate | 30.3 g | 50.5 g |
| Net carbohydrate | 29.2 g | 48.7 g |
| Sugars | 0.1 g | 0.2 g |
| Added sugars | 0 g | 0 g |
| Fibre | 1 g | 1.7 g |
| Fat | 0.7 g | 1.2 g |
| Saturated fat | 0.1 g | 0.2 g |
| Trans fat | — | — |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg | 0 mg |
| Sodium | 1 mg | 2 mg |
| Salt equivalent | 0 g | 0 g |
Vitamins & minerals per serving
- Potassium
- 43 mg
- Calcium
- 9 mg
- Iron
- 1.8 mg
- Magnesium
- 11 mg
- Vitamin A (RAE)
- 0 µg
- Vitamin C
- 0 mg
- Vitamin D
- 0 µg
- Vitamin B12
- 0 µg
- Folate (DFE)
- 123 µg
How these numbers were made
- Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
- “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
- Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.
Good to know
Tips
- Day-old pane toscano is perfect for panzanella, pappa al pomodoro, ribollita and crostini — that's what it's made for.
Common mistakes
- Over-proofing: with no salt to slow the yeast, the dough can collapse if left too long.
Serve with
- With prosciutto, finocchiona, pecorino and good olive oil.
Storage
- Keeps 3 days; it dries rather than going mouldy quickly, which suits bread soups.
Reheating
- Toast or grill for bruschetta.
Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated
Recipe DNA
How this dish is built
Built from the recipe’s own sections. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.
Baker’s notes
Customise in Bread & BakeryTimeline and readiness cues
Mix and knead · about 25 min
Weigh everything. Knead until smooth and elastic: a small piece stretches thin enough to see light through (the windowpane test).
First rise (bulk) · about 8 h
About doubled, domed, jiggly, with bubbles on the sides. A floured finger poked in leaves a dent that fills slowly.
Final proof · about 50 min
Poke test: the dent springs back slowly and only partly. Springs back fast = needs longer; doesn't spring back = over-proofed, bake now.
Bake · about 40 min at 230 °C
Deep golden; bread sounds hollow when tapped underneath, or reads 93–96 °C inside (enriched breads 88–90 °C).
Cool · about 1 h
Cool on a rack before slicing — the crumb is still setting; cutting hot bread makes it gummy.
- Start to finish: about 10 h 55 min. Times are a guide — warmth changes everything; follow the cues.
The dough
| Ingredient | Role | Weight | Baker’s % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bread flour | Flour | 500 g | 100% |
| Water | Water | 320 g | 64% |
| Instant yeast | Yeast | 2 g | 0.3% |
- Total flour
- 500 g
- Hydration
- 64%
- With milk, eggs…
- 64%
- Wholegrain
- 0%
Hydration = water ÷ flour × 100. Milk is about 87% water and eggs about 75%, so they’re shown separately as “with milk, eggs…”.
- Medium dough (55–65%) — soft and easy to knead; sandwich loaves and rolls.
If something goes wrong
Dense, heavy loaf
Likely causes
- Under-kneaded (weak gluten)
- Under-proofed
- Old or dead yeast/starter
- Too much wholegrain flour without extra water
What to do
- Knead to the windowpane stage
- Proof by the poke test, not the clock
- Test yeast in warm water with sugar; feed the starter and use it at its peak
- Add 5–10% more water for wholegrain flours and give them a rest
Gummy or wet crumb
Likely causes
- Under-baked
- Sliced while hot
- Hydration too high for the flour
What to do
- Bake to 93–96 °C inside (cakes: clean skewer)
- Cool completely on a rack before slicing
- Reduce water by 3–5% or use a stronger flour
Spreads flat / no oven spring
Likely causes
- Over-proofed
- Weak shaping (no surface tension)
- Oven not hot enough
- Too much water for the flour
What to do
- Shorten the proof; bake when the poke springs back slowly
- Shape tightly so the skin is taut
- Preheat fully (30+ minutes; with a stone or Dutch oven, 45)
- Lower hydration or use bread flour
Pale crust
Likely causes
- Oven too cool
- Too little sugar or no milk/egg for browning
- Over-fermented (yeast ate the sugars)
What to do
- Check the oven with a thermometer
- Brush with egg wash or milk
- Shorten the fermentation
Burnt bottom
Likely causes
- Tray too close to the heat
- Dark tray absorbs more heat
- Too much sugar in the dough
What to do
- Bake on the middle shelf
- Double up trays or use a light-coloured one
- Lower the temperature 10–15 °C and bake a little longer
Crust too hard or thick
Likely causes
- Baked too long at too low a temperature
- No steam at the start
What to do
- Bake hotter for a shorter time
- Add steam for the first 15 minutes (tray of boiling water, or a covered Dutch oven)
- Cool under a tea towel for a softer crust
Dough didn't rise
Likely causes
- Dead yeast (expired or killed by hot liquid)
- Kitchen too cold
- Salt in direct contact with fresh yeast
- Starter not active
What to do
- Liquid should be lukewarm (no hotter than 40 °C)
- Proof somewhere warm (an oven with just the light on)
- Mix the salt into the flour, not onto the yeast
- Feed the starter until it doubles in 4–8 hours
Over-proofed (sour smell, collapses when scored)
Likely causes
- Too warm
- Too much yeast
- Left too long
What to do
- Knock back, reshape and proof again briefly (yeast doughs)
- Use less yeast or a cooler proof
- Set a timer and check early with the poke test
Reviews & corrections
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