Casatiello

I should have posted this a while ago so you could have served this Neapolitan treat at some point during Easter, especially Easter Monday, when Italians all take off from work and head out to the countryside for picnics. But it's so good, you'll want to keep this recipe handy and serve it to friends and family any time of year.  The recipe was in The New York Times from Yotam Ottolenghi, the Israeli chef and restaurateur. I made a few changes with the interior filling of his recipe and the oven temperature too, but used the original dough recipe. Don't be afraid of working with yeast. This is an easy dough recipe and works beautifully. I find the key is using the right temperature water when using yeast -- between 105 and 115 degrees F.  That's warm enough to activate the yeast but not so hot that you kill it. The dough is stuffed with small cubes of salami and cheese. I used caciocavallo cheese (instead of the gruyere called for by Ottolenghi) and pecorino (instead of parmigiano). I also eliminated the hard-boiled eggs in the original recipe. 
 

After the dough rests for a bit, roll it out into a rectangle.

Ottolenghi's recipe called for using parsley and basil leaves ground into a paste, but I decided to use some basil pesto I had in the freezer from last year's crop, and it was really delicious with the salami and cheeses.

Spread the other ingredients over the pesto and press into the dough, then roll up tightly starting from the long end.

Pinch the edges of the dough together and form a ring, sealing with some water to stick the dough together. If you don't have a ring mold, you can bake it in a cookie sheet as is (after a second rise).

I greased a ring mold and placed the stuffed dough inside, then brushed with olive oil and scattered a little semolina and some sesame seeds on top. I let it rise until it reached the top of the pan.

I baked it at 425 degrees instead of the 450 called for in the original recipe, because I was concerned that the interior might not cook thoroughly and the top might get too brown. It came out perfect!

This is the underside -- also cooked perfectly.

Let it cool slightly and cut with a serrated knife while still warm, or serve at room temperature. It was perfect with drinks before Easter dinner, but I could see eating it as a meal with a side salad or other vegetables. It serves a lot of people, so if you have any leftover, it freezes and reheats well too.

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• Casatiello
  (Original recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi is here, but I changed quite a few things - I used pesto instead of fresh herbs, different cheeses, different oven temperature, and added sesame seeds to the top.)
• Ingredients
• ⅓cup/70 milliliters extra-virgin olive oil, more as needed
• 3tablespoons/45 grams fine semolina flour
• 1/2 cup basil pesto sauce
• ½teaspoon kosher salt, more for seasoning
• 4cups/500 grams bread flour (strong flour), more for dusting
• 3teaspoons/10 grams instant yeast (fast-action dried yeast)
• 1½cups- 2 cups/360 milliliters lukewarm water
• 1salami log (6 ounces/160 grams), rind removed and cut into ¼-inch/½-centimeter cubes (1 heaping cup)
• 4½ounces/130 grams provolone, or caciocavallo, cut into ¼-inch/½-centimeter cubes (1 cup)
• 2ounces/70 grams pecorino cheese, coarsely grated (1 lightly packed cup)
• Black pepper
• 3 tablespoons sesame seeds
• Instructions:

1. Step 1

   Grease a 10-inch or 24-centimeter tube pan with a flat bottom with 1½ teaspoons oil. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons/30 grams semolina, tapping out any extra once the interior is fully coated.

2. Step 2
3. In a large bowl, combine flour, yeast, 1 tablespoon oil, ½ 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.
4. Step 3

   Roll dough into a 12-by-16-inch/30-by-40-centimeter rectangle, with the longest side toward you. Spread evenly with the pesto, leaving a 1½-inch/4-centimeter border at the top and bottom, and a ½-inch/1-centimeter border on the sides. Scatter salami, caciocavallo (or provolone), pecorino and egg evenly over pesto. Grind pepper generously over the surface and then gently push the cheese, egg and meat into the dough.

5. Step 4

   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.

6. Step 5

   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 and sesame seeds. Cover with a slightly damp cloth and let rest for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until nearly doubled in size.

7. Step 6

   Meanwhile, heat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

8. Step 7

   Bake bread for 30-40 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.

9. Note: If you don't have a tube pan, you can bake it freeform on a cookie sheet, or use a large cake pan and place a ball of aluminum foil in the center. (Just be sure to grease well around the aluminum foil so it doesn't stick.)