Ready to get your hands dirty together with the Neapolitan chef Roberto Di Pinto to prepare one of the best Neapolitan delicacies of all time? The Neapolitan casatiello! Similar to bread dough but flavored with Napoli salami and Pecorino cheese filling, and a generous sprinkling of black pepper, the Neapolitan casatiello is a rustic preparation that takes center stage on the Easter menu. Its unmistakable feature? The fresh eggs enclosed in the donut-shaped dough, which kids usually fight over at the Easter table! Of course, each family has its own tradition, especially regarding the filling… the important thing, however, is to be generous and indulge in cheeses and cold cuts! Get your tools ready to prepare a savory Neapolitan casatiello, starting with the most important ones: hands and…love!
Neapolitan Casatiello
Ingredients for the Dough (for a 24 cm diameter donut mold)
- Water: 375 g
- Flour 00: 650 g
- Fresh beer yeast: 10 g
- Fine salt: 15 g
- Black pepper: q.b.
- Lard: 25 g
- Extra-virgin olive oil: 25 g
Casatiello napoletano Calories: Difficult Preparation: 40 min Cooking time: 1 h 15 min Portions: 8 people Cost: Medium Note + 1 and a half hours for leavening
Preparation of the Neapolitan Casatiello
To prepare the Neapolitan casatiello, start by pouring the fresh beer yeast into room temperature water 1, mix to dissolve 2, then pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the hook attachment 3.
Add the other fats: oil and lard 4. Start working the ingredients at low speed and gradually add half of the flour, using a spoon to help you 5. Once the flour is absorbed and you have obtained a sort of batter, add the salt 6.
At this point, add the remaining flour all at once 7 and continue to work at medium speed. The dough should have a soft consistency, but not excessively so. It will take about 10 minutes of working with the stand mixer 8. Alternatively, you can work with the stand mixer for 5 minutes and the remaining 5 by hand on the work surface. Once the working is done, stop the stand mixer and transfer the dough onto the work surface 9, just enough time to give a spherical shape; let it rest on the work surface while preparing the filling, there will be no need to cover it.
Remove the skin from the salami and cut it into not too thin slices lengthwise 10, then cut it into strips and finally into cubes 11. Use a knife to remove the rind from the Pecorino 12
and make cubes always rather large like those of salami 13: in this way salami and cheese will be felt in the filling. Take the dough, take a small piece (about 80 grams) 14 and set it aside: you will need it to seal the eggs on the casatiello later. Slightly flatten the dough 15
pour the cubes of Pecorino and salami on the dough 16, and work it with your hands until all the ingredients are incorporated (17-18).
Sprinkle it all with plenty of black pepper (better if freshly ground) 19 and knead it to make it absorb 20. Manipulate the dough to extend it to a small loaf 21,
And when it’s long enough 22, take a 24 cm diameter donut mold and butter it; place the loaf inside the mold 23 joining and sealing the two ends 24.
Now, vertically place the raw eggs at 4 well-distant points of the casatiello with light pressure 25; then take the dough set aside and work 8 pieces to form small loafs 26, which you can place in a cross shape over the eggs to cage them 27.
Once finished, cover the casatiello with a clean cloth 28 and let it rise at room temperature away from drafts for about 1 hour, 1 hour and a half. Once the volume has almost doubled 29, bake your Neapolitan casatiello in a preheated static oven at 170°C for 75 minutes, placing the mold at the base of the oven. Once cooked 30, let it cool, then gently remove it from the mold and place it on a serving plate. Your Neapolitan casatiello is ready to be shared with the whole family!
Storage
The casatiello can be kept well covered for 3-4 days at room temperature and in a cool place, but well covered with plastic wrap or under a glass dome.
If desired, it can be frozen once cooked and completely cooled with the eggs.
Tips
For the filling, you can choose to add other sausages such as bacon or ham and other cheeses such as Scamorza. Just avoid using fresh filata cheese like mozzarella.