Casatiello Food

NEAPOLITAN EASTER BREAD (CASATIELLO)

Steps:

• Grease a 10-inch or 24-centimeter tube pan with a flat bottom with 1 1/2 teaspoons oil. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons/30 grams semolina, tapping out any extra once the interior is fully coated.
• Combine herbs, 2 tablespoons oil and a good pinch of salt in the bowl of a food processor. Blitz to form a paste, scraping down sides as necessary, and then set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine flour, yeast, 1 tablespoon oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt and the lukewarm water. Use a spatula to stir mixture until combined and turn out onto a floured work surface. Dust your hands with flour, then knead dough for 5 minutes, until it is smooth and elastic. You may need to add more flour if dough is too sticky, but do not add too much or it will become dry. Shape dough into a ball and set aside. Scrape down, clean and dry work surface, then dust with more flour.
• Roll dough into a 12-by-16-inch/30-by-40-centimeter rectangle, with the longest side toward you. Spread evenly with herb paste, leaving a 1 1/2-inch/4-centimeter border at the top and bottom, and a 1/2-inch/1-centimeter border on the sides. Scatter salami, Gruyère, Parmesan and egg evenly over herb paste. Grind pepper generously over the surface and then gently push the cheese, egg and meat into the dough.
• Starting from the longest side, roll dough into a log (as you would a Swiss roll or the dough for cinnamon rolls), making sure to tuck dough in at the ends as you go so contents don't fall out. Press edges to seal.
• Transfer dough to pan, with the long sealed side facing down. The stuffed dough will be heavy, so make sure you have a good grip on both ends before you lift it. Use your hands to bring the ends together, pinching them into place so they form a continuous ring of dough. (It may be easier to shape it into a ring on the counter first and then transfer it to pan.) Using a pastry brush, coat dough with remaining oil and then sprinkle evenly with 1 tablespoon/15 grams semolina. Cover with a slightly damp cloth and let rest for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until nearly doubled in size.
• Meanwhile, heat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit/230 degrees Celsius.
• Bake bread for 30 minutes, until golden and crisp; it will seem very hard but will soften once it cools. Remove from oven and set aside for 15 minutes to cool slightly. Turn bread out of pan onto a wooden board. (You may need to run a knife along edges of pan to release the bread.) Serve warm or cold.

CASATIELLO

Steps:

• To make the sponge, stir the yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar into the water in a mixing bowl and let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. Add the egg yolks and remaining sugar and stir until smooth. Stir in half the flour and beat until smooth. Add the remaining flour and the salt and stir until a soft dough is formed. Knead gently on a floured surface for 3 to 4 minutes. Place in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until double in size, about 1 hour.
• To make the dough, beat the eggs, sugar and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Add 1 cup of flour and stir until smooth. Cut the sponge into small pieces and add them to the dough mixture. Beat together, then add the remaining flour and mix with your hands to a shaggy mass. Mix in the butter. Sprinkle the dough with the grated cheeses and knead them in with your hands. Continue kneading on a lightly floured surface until the dough is elastic, supple and fairly smooth, 5 to 10 minutes. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until almost tripled, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Turn dough out on a lightly floured surface and pat and roll into a large rectangle about 3/4-inch thick. Sprinkle half the provolone, half the salami and half the pepper over the surface. Fold into thirds, like a business letter; then roll the dough out again 3/4-inch thick. Sprinkle with the remaining provolone, salami and pepper and fold again into thirds. Gently knead for 2 to 3 minutes to distribute the cheese and salami evenly. Cut the dough in half and knead each half gently into a round ball. Place each ball in a buttered 2-quart charlotte mold or souffle dish. The dough should fill about half the mold. Cover with a towel and let rise to the tops of the molds, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Brush the top of each loaf with the lightly beaten egg white. Place in the oven and bake for 45 minutes, until the tops are very brown and shiny. Remove from the molds and cool on racks.

CASATIELLO

Steps:

• To make the sponge, stir together the flour and yeast in a bowl. Whisk in the milk to make a pancakelike batter. Cover with plastic wrap and ferment at room temperature for 1 hour. The sponge will foam and bubble and should collapse when you tap the bowl.
• While the sponge is fermenting, dice the salami into small cubes and sauté it lightly in a frying pan to crisp it slightly. (Or, cook and crumble the bacon or sauté fresh sausage or salami substitutes until crisp, saving the rendered fat.)
• To make the dough, in a mixing bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer), stir together the flour, salt, and sugar with a spoon. Add the eggs and the sponge and mix together (or mix with a paddle attachment on low speed) until all the ingredients form a coarse ball. If there is any loose flour, dribble in a small amount of water or milk to gather it into the dough. Stir (or mix) for about 1 minute, then let the dough rest for 10 minutes to allow the gluten to develop. Divide the butter into 4 pieces. Begin working the butter into the dough, one piece at a time, stirring vigorously with the spoon (or mixing on medium speed). The dough will be soft but not a batter. Continue mixing with the spoon, or switch to your hands but keep them floured as you knead, working the dough into a smooth, tacky mass. It will take about 12 minutes. (In the electric mixer, scrape down the bowl with a plastic bowl scraper or rubber spatula and then switch to the dough hook after 4 minutes. The dough will change from sticky to tacky and eventually come off the sides of the bowl. If not, sprinkle in more flour until the dough forms a ball and clears the sides of the bowl.)
• When the dough is smooth, add the meat pieces and knead (or mix) until they are evenly distributed. Then gently knead (or mix) in the cheese until it too is evenly distributed. The dough will be soft and stretchy, very tacky but not sticky. If it is sticky, sprinkle in more flour until it firms up. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
• Ferment at room temperature for about 90 minutes, or until the dough increases in size by at least 1 1/2 times.
• Remove the dough from the bowl and leave as 1 piece for 1 large loaf or divide into 2 pieces for smaller loaves. The loaves may be baked in white or brown sandwich-sized paper bags set in metal cans just large enough to hold them, such as a no. 10 can or a coffee can. Or they may be baked in 1 large or 2 small loaf pans. (You may also use paper or metal pannetone molds, available at specialty cookware stores, or an 8-inch cake pan, as shown in the recipe image.) If you are baking in bags, generously spray the inside of 1 or 2 small brown or white sandwich- or lunch-sized paper bags with spray oil. Lightly dust your hands and the dough with flour and shape the dough (or dough pieces) into a boule as shown on page 72. Place a ball of dough in the prepared bag, and roll the top of the bag back to make a collar about 2 inches above the top of the dough. Place the bag in a metal can just large enough to hold it. If you are baking in pans, mist one 9 by 5-inch or two 8 1/2 by 4 1/2-inch pans with spray oil. Lightly dust your hands and the dough with flour and shape the dough into 1 or 2 loaves, and place in the pans. Mist the top of the dough with spray oil and loosely cover the bags or pans with plastic wrap or a towel.
• Proof for 60 or 90 minutes, or until the dough just reaches to the top of the bags or just crests to the top of the pans.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F, setting the oven rack in the lower third of the oven.
• Place the cans or pans with the dough in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, then rotate the pans 180 degrees. If you are baking in cans, reduce the oven temperature to 325°F (do not reduce the oven setting if you are baking in regular bread pans). Bake for an additional 20 to 30 minutes for bread pans or about 40 minutes for cans, or until the center of the loaves registers 185° to 190°F. The dough will be golden brown on top and on the sides, and the cheese will ooze out into crisp little brown pockets. The bread will rise to just above the top of the bags.
• When the bread is done, remove it from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack. If you are baking in bread pans, remove the bread from the pans; if you are baking in bags, remove the bags from the cans and either remove the bread from the bags or cut slits in the bags to allow the stream to escape. Let the bread cool for at least 1 hour before slicing or serving.
• Rich, standard dough; indirect method; commercial yeast
• 1 hour sponge; 12 minutes mixing; 3 hours fermentation, shaping, and proofing; 30 to 60 minutes baking
• Other types of cheese can be substituted for the provolone, but the cheese should be a good "melter" with distinctive flavor of its own, such as Swiss, Gouda, or Cheddar or their infinite cousins. I rarely use mozzarella or Jack because they are some-what bland, or Parmesan or other hard cheeses because they are too salty and do not melt into a creamy pocket. However, if that is what I have on hand, blending mozzarella or Jack with a grated hard cheese brings the melting and flavor perks of each together into an excellent substitute.
• This is a fast sponge and the entire bread can be made in about 5 hours from start to finish. The dough can also be made a day ahead, and then shaped and baked the following day, like brioche, but you must chill it as soon as it comes off the mixer to avoid overfermenting.
• The formula calls for whole milk, but I often substitute buttermilk because I like the slightly acidic flavor.
• The meat may be any flavorful substitute that you have on hand or prefer. Italian salami and pepperoni are ideal because the flavor intensifies as they cook, and little bits go a long way, especially if they are lightly sautéed before they are added to the dough. Cooked and crumbled bacon and pancetta are also superb in this bread, and the rendered fat can be added to the dough as a substitute for an equal part of the butter for even more flavor intensity. Other substitutes include crisped chorizo, Italian sausage, or other crisped fresh sausage; fresh all-beef salami (diced and then cooked until slightly crisp); imitation bacon bits (soy); or firm smoked tofu cut into bits.
• You can cut the butter in half if you prefer, but you may have to increase the milk slightly to achieve the proper consistency.
• Casatiello %
• (SPONGE)
• Bread flour: 12.3%
• Instant yeast: 1.8%
• Milk: 43.8%
• (DOUGH)
• Meat: 21.9%
• Bread flour: 87.7%
• Salt: 1.4%
• Sugar: 2.7%
• Eggs: 18.1%
• Butter: 32.9%
• Cheese: 21.9%
• Total: 244.5%