This is the 6th most frequent Italian word.
del
"Del" is the contraction of "di" (of) and "il" (the) in Italian, meaning "of the" or "from the."
Here, 'del' is a partitive article used to indicate an unspecified quantity of the noun 'pane'.
Ho comprato del pane freschissimo stamattina.
I bought some very fresh bread this morning.
This usage of 'del' is as a partitive article indicating an unspecified amount of the noun 'burro'.
La ricetta richiede del burro per fare la salsa.
The recipe requires some butter to make the sauce.
In this context, 'del' is a contraction of 'di' + 'il,' used as a preposition to indicate the topic of discussion.