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Sliced rye bread with visible pork crackling pockets and a dark golden crust resting on a rustic wooden board

Füghiascia di Gordona: Rustic Rye Cracklings Bread

A dense, rye-based Alpine bread from Valchiavenna, folded with pork cracklings and finished with a lard-brushed, crisp crust.
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 55 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Course: bread
Cuisine: Italian (Northern Italy)
Calories: 279
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Dough
  • 300 g rye flour
  • 200 g bread flour or 00 flour
  • 320 ml water, lukewarm
  • 15 g fresh yeast or 5 g active dry yeast
  • 10 g fine salt
  • 50 g lard, softened, plus extra for brushing
Filling and Topping
  • 150 g pork cracklings (ciccioli), finely diced pat off excess fat
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
  • 1/2 tsp coarse salt for topping

Method
 

Make and Rise the Dough
  1. Dissolve the fresh yeast in the lukewarm water in a 4-quart / 3.8 L mixing bowl. Let it sit for 5 minutes until foamy on top.
  2. Add the rye flour, bread flour, and salt to the yeast water. Mix with a wooden spoon or your hand until a rough, sticky dough forms.
  3. Knead in the softened lard directly in the bowl for 5 to 7 minutes, folding and pressing, until the dough is smoother and starts pulling away from the sides.
  4. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise at room temperature, around 21 C / 70 F, for 90 minutes, until roughly doubled.
Fold, Shape, and Second Rise
  1. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Scatter the diced cracklings and black pepper over it and fold gently a few times, just enough to distribute them without deflating the dough.
  2. Press and stretch the dough into a rough oval or rectangle on a parchment-lined sheet pan 33 x 46 cm / 13 x 18 inch. Dimple the surface firmly with your fingertips.
  3. Cover loosely with a towel and let it rise again for 30 minutes, until visibly puffed.
Bake and Finish
  1. Heat the oven to 220 C / 425 F while the dough finishes its second rise.
  2. Brush the top of the dough with melted lard and sprinkle with coarse salt.
  3. Bake for 28 to 32 minutes, until the crust is deep golden and sounds hollow when tapped. An instant-read thermometer should show around 96 C / 205 F at the center.
  4. Cool on a rack for at least 15 minutes before slicing into 8 pieces. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes

  • Dice cracklings fine and pat off excess fat before folding into the dough.
  • Let the first rise run a full 90 minutes, rye dough is slow to double.
  • Shape with wet hands, not extra flour, the dough stays sticky by nature.
  • Bake until the crust sounds hollow when tapped, that's the real doneness cue.