Wishing you a Happy Easter from our kitchen to yours.
Test out this “casatiello”, our family recipe for a classic Neapolitan savory Easter bread.
INGREDIENTS
Bread Dough:
400 gr Flour 00
25 gr fresh Beer Yeast (1 cube)
1⁄2 c. Milk
1 c. luke-warm Water
100 g lard
Salt
Pepper
Filling:
Your choice of mixed cheeses and cured meats (provolone, smoked scamorza, spicy salami, prosciutto etc.)
Decoration:
5 whole uncooked eggs to be “trapped” in the dough Butter or Olive Oil for the pan
PROCESS
> Dissolve the yeast in a cup of warm water. In a large mixing bowl, make a well with the flour and pour the yeasted water into the center. Add the lard and milk, a little at a time and start mixing the wet ingredients into the flour like you are making a pasta dough. Add the salt and pepper and continue to knead the dough until it becomes elastic. Cover with a kitchen towel and rest for about 2 hours until it doubles in size.
> Prepare the meat and cheeses for your stuffing. Grate the cheese or cut into little cubes, use slices of cured meat or cut salami into small bite-sized pieces. Portion out about 3/4 of the dough and mix in the meat and cheese, leaving 1/4 of the dough for the final decoration.
> Grease and flour a bundt pan and lay out the dough, making sure you pinch the ends together to make a full circle. Cover with the kitchen towel and let it rest again for one hour.
> Preheat the oven to 150°C or 300°F on a convection setting if possible. Use the remaining dough to finish the bread before baking. Place the uncooked eggs (with shells still on) into the top of the dough. Slightly press them down to secure and create a criss-cross with the extra dough to hug them into the bread. Pinch to attach the edges and place in the oven to bake.
> Bake for approximately 50 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and rest for another 10 minutes before serving whole. Slice individual pieces, carefully remove the shell from the eggs and enjoy!
