20 Breads of Italy
20 regioni, 20 pani diversi means 20 regions (in Italy), 20 different breads, which is metaphorical for the differences in each region of Italy. Not only culinary differences, but cultural and social differences as well, which continue to hold strong, even in this globalized world.
People have pointed out to me that the title of my blog is the 20 breads of Italy and beyond, and I never write about bread. For that reason I have created this page dedicated to bread, I’ll add to it gradually while traveling and exploring forni italiani.
Pizza Bianca – Rome, Lazio
This type of bread is typical all over Italy, it is only called pizza bianca in Rome and of course the way that it is made and the way that it tastes is different in every region. Bakers will often offer small pieces to children while their parents are buying bread. It is wonderful on its own and can also be filled or farcita and made into a sandwich.
Filone di Renella – Rome, Lazio
Renella is one of the best bakeries in Rome, I discovered it walking to work every morning when I worked in Trastevere, you could smell the bread baking two blocks ahead. Unlike most bakeries and small shops, Renella is open 7 days a week and I don’t think that they have turned their ovens off in 100 years. They bake a number of different types of bread, but the filone is the classic loaf, called “pane napoletana” by the people who work at Renella. Not terribly Roman in name, though you will find it on the table of almost every restaurant in one of Rome’s most Roman neighborhoods, Trastevere.
Pane di Lariano – Lazio
Pane di Lariano is a whole wheat bread that comes from Lariano, a town south of Rome.
Pane Casareccio – Lazio
All of these breads are starting to look the same… but they aren’t. Pane casareccia is not whole wheat like pane lariano, but made with white flour, crusty on the outside and spongy soft on the inside. Casareccio means homemade, I wish that I could make bread like this at home, but I would need a serious oven in my apartment which I don’t think is legal.
Pane Siciliano – Sicily
One of the things that I am often tickled by is finding similarities between regional Italian food and Italian-American food. After years of living in Italy I always wondered why sesame loaves in the States were always called Italian loaves. After my recent visit to Sicily I discovered my answer.
Rosette – Lazio
Rosette are hollow rolls that are commonly found in Rome, used for sandwiches.
Ciabatta
Ciabatte are a flat bread, a bit like pizza bianca, though harder and made with less oil, good for sandwiches.
Cornetto
These are similar to French croissants, but sweeter and often filled with a sweet cream or jam, they are a typical Italian breakfast.
Pane di Genzano – Lazio
Originally from Genzano, this bread is found all over Rome. It is very similar to the pane casareccia, with a hard crust and soft middle.
Focaccia Ligure – Liguria
The focaccia in Liguria is the Northern brother of the pizza bianca, a softer crust and a sweeter flavor than Roman pizza bianca, it resembles bread more than it does pizza.
Taralli – Puglia
Taralli Pugliesi are made with white wine and generally with fennel seeds, boiled and then baked until golden.
Friselle – Puglia, Basilicata & Campania
Friselle are a dried bread, which vary in thickness and size, depending on what region you are in. Generally eaten with fresh tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil and thyme. I first had them in Basilicata where they would dampen them with water before dressing them, I’ve also had them in Naples topped with seafood.
Focaccia al Pomodoro – Puglia & Basilicata
Focaccia al pomodoro can be found in Puglia and in Basilicata, thick crusted dough with fresh tomato sauce baked on top with thyme.
Pane Laterza – Puglia
Pane Laterza is from the town of Laterza, which is Northwest of Taranto, close to the Basilicata border. It is a long loaf or filone with a firm crust and soft center.
Pane con le Olive – Puglia
Whole wheat rolls made with olives.
Pane col Seme di Finocchio – Puglia
Bread baked with fennel seeds.
Pizza Rustica with Prosciutto Cotto – Puglia
Like a focaccia, this is made with cheese and ham baked inside of it.
Ciambella – Puglia, Basilicata
Crusty on the outside, soft on the inside. La Ciambella is a very typical style of bread that you can find in bakeries in both Puglia and Basilicata.
Pane Casareccio – Puglia
Pane Casareccio Pugliese is a bit denser than a ciambella, the crust is thinner and it is typically made with white flour.
Pane di Matera, La Corna – Matera, Basilicata
This is a classic pane di Matera, made of semola flour, it is famous for its yellow hue and because it is made with a mother yeast starter and artisinally milled flour it wil stay fresh for up to a week, sometimes longer.
Pane di Matera – Basilicata
Bread from Matera is made with semola flour, making it more yellow than breads made with grano duro. Crusty and delicious, this is the bread that dreams are made of.
Pagnotta Foggiana, Puglia
I should have put something next to this enormous 2 kilo pagnotta to measure its largesse.
Schüttelbrot – Pane di segale croccante, Alto-Adige
The bread in Alto-Adige is a lot like the bread that you can find in Germany and Austria, culturally Alto-Adige is Austrian since it only became a part of Italy after the first world war. This is a hard and crispy rye bread.
Pane di Segale – Alto Adige
Rye bread, found in loaves and also little rolls.
Vinschger Paarl, Alto-Adige
Flat rye bread.
Pumpernickel, Alto-Adige
Bossolà – Chioggia, Veneto
Like the tarallo pugliese, this is bread that will last for weeks, cooked hard in a ring form.
Italicious 
Hi, I just stumbled across this blog. I’m teaching myself alot of italian cooking recipes at the moment and I really want to start making bread once a week too. I was really hoping to find authentic recipes on this page. Do you have any? Does anybody else? Or could you point me in the direction of where I could find recipes for these breads?
Thanks.
You all could collect a compilation of Italian bread recipes. You could bake certain breads every day. Some of the others you could make on different days depending on customer base. You could take what was left per day after the day old time was up and cube them and make croutons. Once you open, find out from your customers what they wish they were still able to get. i.e. Grandma’s gone and no one bakes that variety any more. Good luck! I loved Italia!
You all could collect a compilation of Italian bread recipes. You could bake certain breads every day. Some of the others you could make on different days depending on customer base. You could take what was left per day after the day old time was up and cube them and make croutons. Once you open, find out from your customers what they wish they were still able to get. i.e. Grandma’s gone and no one bakes that variety any more. Good luck!
I live in long island NY ..there are many bakery’s around the island.we eat this bread called mafadi (don’t know if I spelled it right)but it’s one of our favorites .do you have any info on this particular loaf.
My husband is Sicilian and always speaks of a rustic bread. His family calls it “ruffinato” or something like that. I can’t find anything like that on the web. Any ideas? TIA!
Have you heard of an Italian bread that has knots all over it. It kind of looks like a sputnik. We used to buy it in an Italian store called Barzizza’s in Memphis, TN.
If you like the Italian bread, I let you know that there are over 300 different recipes in Italy (e.g. pane di zucca, grissia, crescia, marocca di casola, pan senatore cappelli, pan nocino, piadina, coccoi, pistoccu and so on), but one of the most ancient recipes is for sure the Sardinian ”carasau”!
[…] 20 Different Breads of Italy […]
My family is from Morolo, Italy. Do you have any recipes from that region?
We raise and show commercial meat rabbits, any authentic peasant recipes. Peasant recipes are usually the most delicious. My family in Italy does not write anything down to hand down. I really am glad the I stumbled onto your webpage! I am a collector of Italian recipes because my father never knew his parents, they past away when he was a baby.
Take care,
Michael J. Marchione
mjmarchione@hotmail
Also, I only use e-mail.
I would like to say that Ciabatta is not a traditional Italian bread. I agree it is Italian, but it was created 1982. No joke. Just letting everyone know that it is NOT a traditional Italian bread.
[…] different type of bread that corresponds to that specific region of Italy. For example, the Pane di Larinao, a type of bread made from whole wheat comes from Lazio a region in central Italy, or the Pane […]
The Panzanella | One Does Not Simply Stop Eating said this on February 8, 2017 at 17:46
I am sicilian italian living in the great State of Maine in the southern region. My twin sister and I are planning on opening our own Italian bakery in the area as there are many italians in the area and no bakeries that specialize in “true italian” delicacies. Thank you for the article with regard to the “true breads” of Italy. Gives us food for thought 😁
I love this blog! The photographs are so good. I remember there was a lady who made a couple of these breads every day. Unfortunately that was at least FIFTY YEARS AGO. She ran a lttle grocery store on a side street in San Francisco. It wasn’t a bakery but she made them upstairs in her home (next door to the little market she owned). I wish that I could help those people who are looking for those recipes. Maybe they could plan on a seven or ten day trip to Italy where the people who live there can give them their recipes for good (and authentic) Italian breads. They would probably need to write fast and check some of the ingredients for the bread. Hopefully, those could be purchased here in the United States. Great idea. Good luck.
I live in maine and just came across your website. I am Sicilian Italian and.yearn for any recipes from the old country. I was specifically looking for bread recipes when I came across your site. You can bet I will search until I find some recipes for the breads you posted. My sister and I are starting an Italian bakery in southern Maine and want only Italian food recipes as this is a niche not filled in the area and there are many Italian Americans living in the area. Thank you so much for your post ! Kmcgoldrick10730@aol.com
Unfortunately no, this page was really set up as a way to show the differences in the types of breads all over Italy. A metaphor that Italians often use to talk about regional differences, especially differences in regional cuisines, is to say 20 regions, 20 different types of bread. 20 regioni, 20 pani diversi.
Wow, what beautiful breads, and nice photography. Do you have recipes for them?
So very nice
bruschetta is usually made qith day old bread, the kind of bread that it is isn’t important
They all look yummy!
Awesome Breads!
Did they forget Bruschetta?
i can live with all these bread and cheese every day ❤️❤️❤️❤️them
So I live in Virginia U S where can I buy
These bread? Do we have any Italian
Bakery? Thank you
This r very nice bread .can I share with it website..
I plan to try them all.
its
good
Epic
[…] first thing to do is to choose the bread that one likes. Italian bread and honey oats bread are excellent for making this kind of sandwich. The second part to consider is the kind of toppings […]
The delights of a self-made subway sandwich | Super Sandwich said this on August 1, 2014 at 07:47
[…] day we want to use it. If any is left over (and that’s a big if!), we save it for breakfast.Did you know there are several types of Italian bread? Italicious lists 20 of them. How many have you tried in Italy? Bread is a central theme in Italian meals. You need it with […]
Bread (Pane) in Italia | Travel in Europe Blog said this on July 24, 2014 at 14:15
God Bless you.
I just found your blog – I LOVE IT!! I’m esp. glad I found this post with all those fabulous breads. We lived in Malta for 8 years and I miss the bread from there. The bread I really ‘have my eye on right now’ is Cornetto – I can’t wait to try to make it!
I had a certain amount of success with it using Jim Lahey’s no-knead pizza dough: https://italicious.wordpress.com/2010/08/04/pizza-bianca-with-fresh-figs-and-prosciutto-crudo/
Do You have instructions available for making the Roman Pizza Bianca
which looks so good in the photo? If not, is there a resource you can recommend?
Since I am not much of a baker and live in a country where the bread is delicious and cheap, I unfortunately don’t have recipes for the bread that I have featured here. 20 breads of Italy is a metaphor for the 20 regions of Italy and the differences in culinary traditions that each region has, not to mention the different types of bread that you can find here.
I’m looking for the Pane casareccio recipe please..
How do you get the recipes for the breads?
I would love to help you find it, but you will have to be more specific, every region in Italy has a different, or many different types of bread. Italian immigrants who ended up in every part of the world then interpreted bread in their own way with the ingredients that they found in their new country. Where did you eat it?
what is the name of a type of Italian bread, bake w cheese inside?
Any chance of getting the recipe for the hollow Rosetta bread that I had in Italy? Thks, Fran, australia
I haven’t seen anything like that on this side of the ocean, but if I find something I will leave another reply and let you know.
My grandma use to make what she called easter bread and one cheese brad they were great but now i cant find it any were any ideas what it was the cheese bread whas a crunchy out side cheese like center but not melted cheese it was like baked that way idk easter bread was a lil sweet but not and a lite yellow color any help???
Wow! Have you made all of these yet? Which of them seem easiest for an Italian bread-making newbie?
I’m here in Rome, and after living so long up north (Friuli), I am extremely pleased with the list of different breads available here. We had pane integrali yesterday that was reminiscent of hearty breads we enjoy in the German speaking countries. Tomorrow I am makng it my mission to find some of these breads as I wander through some neighborhoods in Rome.
Are you thinking of sourdough bread? I’m not familiar with any sourdough breads in Italy, but my list is not yet complete!
Please tell me the name of the Italian bread with a soury taste. Do you have a recipe?
traveling to puglia & basilicata in oct. armed w/ these bread names, i shall search them out!! will also enjoy your restaurant suggestions!! thank you.
Wow! Don’t even know how I found this site, but I am starving…memories of my childhood in Italy…time to book a trip! Thank You!
Glad that you like it Sam!
I’m a evcutice chef of our companies bakery and I was searching for ideas of Itailan breads and ran acrossed your blog. It’s wonderful , your discriptions of each style and the ingredients used are prefect. Just enough for me to try to replicate a loaf of each bread. Thank you for posting!
very nice… bread sucks here in Denver Colorado
I am a chef with a blog, and am putting together some Italian bread mixtures. I would love to be able to use some of your pictures and maybe collaborate in some manner? please contact me with fees for usage and other details. mail@cheflippe.com Thanks.
Luscious, but forbidden to me, alas.
Love it! Wish I can taste them all
Hi,
I’m an editor of an italian publishing house.
I’d like to publish your picture of “pane di genzano” in a book.
Please contact me if it is possibile and I’ll give you further details.
(we are also looking for “pane di Matera” and “pagnotta del Dittaino”.
Thanks!
info[at]foodeditore.it
[…] Lariano or Genzano. Look a this interesting blog I found – Italicious – with 20 breads of Italy. […]
Sun-dried tomatoes, Salmon and chickpeas Salad (Believe me, it’s a main course!) « nocemoscata said this on November 11, 2010 at 12:09
I wish that I did, my bread making skills are pretty elementary, even more so with pizza. In bocca al lupo, I would love any suggestions if you have them!!!
Marvelous blog! Your pictures, content and commentary are very good reading. I have an Italian wood-fired pizza oven and am anxious to make good Pizza Bianca. Do you have any tips?
I love this post and learning about the different breads of Italy! How lucky you are or were to walk past a bakery so good!
Gosh, I sure don’t remember all of these breads when we were in Italy. Yum!
This is great! More, please….
Yum YUM yuuuuuuuum.
I’ve got some recipes Miss Virginia if you want them!