Casatiello (Neapolitan Easter Bread)

slice of italian salami bread on a plate

5 from 1 vote

Casatiello (Neapolitan Easter Bread)

You'll love my family's Casatiello, a savory, stuffed Easter bread from Naples! It's shaped into a ring and filled with salami, Pecorino Romano and black pepper.

Prep Time5 30

Cook Time55

Total Time6 25

Course: Appetizer, Bread

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: Makes 1 large loaf

Calories: 374kcal

Author: Mamma C

Equipment

10-inch tube pan (no removable bottom)

Ingredients

Casatiello Dough

4 ounces lard
5 ounces cold water
2 cups bread flour (scoop and level off the cups)
2 cups all-purpose flour (scoop and level off the cups)
2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast (see notes for active yeast)
½ teaspoon granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
4 ounces warm water

Filling

3 ounces lard (room temperature)
¾ pound hard salami (sliced ¼-inch thick) (cut into small, flat pieces)
8 ounces Pecorino Romano (cut into small, flat pieces)
¾ teaspoon black pepper

Topping

¼ teaspoon black pepper
4 eggs (optional) (in their shells)

Instructions

Melt four ounces of lard in a small pot on the stove over medium-high heat. Carefully pour five ounces of cold water over the melted lard to cool it off.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with dough hooks, add the bread flour, all-purpose flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Pour in the lard mixture and the warm water. Stir with the hooks on the lowest speed for 1-2 minutes to combine. Knead for 10-15 minutes (speed 2 on a Kitchenaid) until the dough is smooth. Place it in a greased bowl (you can spray the mixing bowl without cleaning it), and roll the dough around the bowl to coat it with the oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for two hours.
While the dough is rising, prepare the salami and cheese. Stack the salami slices and cut them into 1-inch pieces. Cut the Romano into ½-inch-long pieces that are ¼-inch thick. Cover and refrigerate until the dough has risen.
When the dough has risen, punch it down and scrape it out onto a clean, floured surface. If you'll be adding eggs on top of the loaf, pull away a fist-sized piece of dough and set it aside. Use a rolling pin to roll the remaining dough out into an 11x16 rectangle. Grease a 10-inch tube pan (it must NOT have a removable bottom, or the lard will leak out) with some of the 3 oz. of lard. Be sure to grease the tube. Then, use your fingers to spread most of the 3 ounces of lard all over the flattened dough. Top it with the pieces of salami, spreading them out into a single layer. Repeat with the Pecorino pieces. Sprinkle ¾ teaspoon of black pepper all over. Press the filling down into the dough with the palms of your hands.
Start rolling up the dough tightly from the long side. Continue rolling it up all the way. Pinch the ends closed. Spread any remaining lard on the surface of the log. Sprinkle on the remaining ¼ teaspoon of pepper. Transfer the rolled dough to the prepared pan, looping the dough into a circle. Pull and stretch the log as needed to lengthen it so the two ends meet and the dough is an even height all around. Push the two ends together and smooth them as best you can.
If you're adding the eggs on top, roll out the fist-full of dough and cut it into 8 strips. Wash and dry the four eggs. Place them on top of the dough, spacing them apart evenly. Push them down gently. Place two strips of dough in a cross pattern over each egg, pressing the tips of the dough strips onto the loaf.
Cover with a towel and let the stuffed dough rise for at least three hours.
When the dough has another 20 minutes left to rise, prepare the oven. Remove the top rack to make room. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. When the dough is ready, bake the casatiello on the center rack for 50-60 minutes or until golden brown. If the top is getting too dark and the sides need longer to bake, you can loosely cover the bread with a sheet of foil to finish baking it. If using a tube pan, you can remove the bread from the pan and finish baking it on a sheet of foil placed on the center rack, and cover the top with foil if needed.
When the Casatiello is done, remove it from the pan and place it on a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or let it cool completely and wrap it in plastic, then store it in the refrigerator for up to four days. Reheat slices in the microwave to soften the bread to eat. You also can eat the bread cold or at room temperature.
To freeze a whole loaf, wrap it in plastic, then foil and freeze for up to three months. You also can freeze leftover slices of the bread by placing them in a zip-top freezer bag and defrosting them in the microwave as needed.

Notes

If Using Active Yeast: Sprinkle 2 ¼ teaspoons of active yeast on the 4 ounces of warm water. Add the ½ teaspoon of sugar and stir. Let it sit for 10 minutes to proof. If it bubbles, it's good. Add this mixture to the mixing bowl after the flours, salt and lard mixture. Then mix and knead as directed above.

Pan: If you don't have a 10-inch tube pan without a removable bottom, you can use a 10-inch round cake pan that's three inches deep. You can either ball up foil to put in the middle for the hole, or just make sure the bread ring is wide enough that it won't close in the middle when baked.

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