Last week, the Cheftestants had a countryside retreat. While it may sound relaxing, they had to make a family style meal, composed of their holiday traditions, to serve each other and the judges. Since I’ve shared my holiday scalloped potatoes with you recently, and that I was pooped from the weekend, I decided to get in on a traditional Easter Monday meal from Naples, called Casatiello. Essentially, you take your leftover scraps and roll it all into a dough and bake-it-up in a ring mold and you’d go on a picnic or hike and enjoy your sandwich. If you love bread, you’ll love this no-frills meal. The full episode of Top Chef Tuesday can be found here.
Casatiello
2.5 tsp yeast
1.5 cups warm water
Extra-virgin olive oil
4 cups Bread flour
Fine Semolina flour for dusting
1 cup basil leaves
1 cup parsley leaves
1 tbsp fresh rosemary needles pulled from sprig
2 garlic cloves
1 cup of diced meat (use anything: beef, ham, pepperoni, chicken, lamb)
1 cup of cubed Fontina (or Mozzarella)
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
2 boiled eggs, diced
Mix the yeast in the water, in the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the dough hook, and allow it to become frothy.
Meanwhile, combine the herbs and garlic, in a mini-prep, along with salt, pepper, and some olive oil and blend until it forms a paste. Reserve.
Dice up the meat and fontina, and grate the parmesan. Reserve.
When the yeast has bloomed, add in 1 tbsp of oil and begin to mix on low speed. Add in the flour and continue to mix on low for about 5 minutes.
Oil the ring mold pan and dust with semolina, tipping out any excess.
Lightly flour a work surface with additional semolina flour. Dump out the mixed dough and pat into a disk. Roll out to a rough 12x16 rectangle. Line up the long edge closest to you.
Spread the herb paste all over the bread, leaving a ½ inch border.
Place the cut meat over the herbs, followed by the fontina, parmesan, and diced egg.
Press everything into the bread and season with salt and pepper. Roll the dough up away from your body, like a Swiss roll, pressing the seam at the bottom. Transfer to a ring mold fitting it into the pan and connecting the 2 loose ends.
Brush with more oil and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle on a little more semolina. Cover with a kitchen towel, or cling wrap, and let it rise for about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 450.
After the 40 minutes, uncover and place the mold into the oven. Bake for about 30 minutes until the top is golden brown. Place the pan on a rack to cool for 15 minutes.
Unmold the bread, slice, and serve. ______________________________ Copyright 2023, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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