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Casatiello Napoletano
Created by Chef Graziella
The magnificent ring-shaped Easter bread of Naples, its enriched dough wrapped around cubes of sharp cheese and salami, crowned with eggs that bake in their shells. This is what Neapolitan families bring to the table on Easter morning.
Casatiello belongs to Naples the way the Duomo belongs to Florence. You cannot separate them. Every family in the city has made this bread for Easter since before anyone can remember, the recipe passed from grandmother to mother to daughter with variations as subtle and fiercely defended as political opinions.
The dough is enriched with lard, which Neapolitans call strutto. Do not substitute butter. Do not substitute oil. The lard creates a tender crumb and carries the flavor of the cheese and salami in a way that nothing else can. If you cannot use lard for reasons of faith or conscience, I respect that, but then you are making a different bread.
The eggs baked into the top are not decoration. They are symbols. The ring shape represents eternity and resurrection. The eggs represent new life and the breaking of the Lenten fast. When you slice casatiello on Easter morning and see the spiral of cheese and meat, when you peel the baked egg from its strip of golden dough, you are participating in something that connects you to generations of Neapolitan home cooks who did exactly the same thing at exactly the same time of year.
Ingredients
bread flour
Quantity
500g
fine sea salt
Quantity
10g
active dry yeast
Quantity
7g
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| bread flour | 500g |
| fine sea salt | 10g |
| active dry yeast | 7g |
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