To beautify and bring something tasty and original to the table at Christmas, I thought of preparing a stuffed bread wreath with salami, cheese, and olives, but it can be filled to personal taste. Simply cut the ingredients into cubes and incorporate them into the dough, a soft dough with semolina and olive oil to have easy-to-prepare and soft bread. The stuffed bread is perfect to serve with appetizers, the Christmas appetizers, or as a replacement for classic bread, enjoyable to eat on its own, spread with some cream, or to accompany main courses and sides for a full menu. I love baking bread or focaccia at home for the holidays, and every year I come up with something, from super soft rolls, to soft and tasty mini pizzas, this year it’s stuffed bread for every taste, also excellent with walnuts or olives. Other recipes that are always present at Christmas.
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 1 Day 6 Hours
- Preparation time: 40 Minutes
- Portions: 1 for 4-8 people
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Christmas, New Year's Eve
Ingredients for Stuffed Bread Wreath
- 5.3 oz water
- 0.1 oz fresh yeast
- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1.8 oz salami
- 1.8 oz spicy provolone
- 1.8 oz Taggiasca olives
- 0.6 cups semolina flour
- Semolina for working as needed
Tools for Preparing Stuffed Bread Wreath
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Spoon
- 1 Pastry board
- 1 Baking tray
- 1 Parchment paper
- 1 Plastic wrap
Steps to Prepare Stuffed Bread Wreath
Dissolve the yeast in lukewarm water in the bowl. Add the flour and mix. Take a break between operations to make the dough more elastic. Add the salt and mix again. Pause.
Dice the salami and cheese into small cubes, if the olives are small, no need to cut them.
Resume the dough, add the oil, and mix with the spoon, then pause and add the filling ingredients and resume mixing.
Finally, after a short pause, add the semolina and work it by hand to obtain a homogeneous dough ball. If necessary, use a little semolina to seal the dough. Place it in the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let it rise in a warm place for about 5 hours.
Take the risen dough, place it on a lightly floured surface. Make a loaf and from this create a wreath, about 9.5-10 inches wide, making a hole in the center and widening it little by little.
Let it rise on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper, for an hour or two in a warm place.
Take the risen bread, use scissors to make spaced cuts a couple of inches apart, all over the surface, and fold one tip to one side and the other to the opposite side, as you see in the video. Try not to deflate the bread too much.
Bake in a preheated convection oven at 482°F for about 15-20 minutes until the bread is well browned. If it darkens too much, lower the oven temperature to 428°F.
Remove from the oven and it’s ready to serve, our stuffed bread is excellent either cold or just freshly baked and still warm. It’s also great if there’s any left over, toasted in the oven.
