Just after the Christmas feasts, these days we are preparing the menu for the December 31st dinner, which, I don’t know about you, but at least in my house doesn’t have any “imposed” rules. In fact, while for Christmas Eve dinner there are no exceptions to the classic spaghetti with clams, fried fish, cauliflower fritters, reinforcement salad and endive pie, the New Year’s Eve dinner is much more “free” and generally doesn’t usually include a second course, just a taste of a first course but lots of appetizers from land and sea, rustic pies and the inevitable gastronomic panettone.
This brioche bread shaped like a panettone, once divided into various discs, is stuffed and then reassembled to form a tower of sandwiches with various flavors.
The basic dough involves the use of both all-purpose flour and Manitoba along with milk, egg yolks, butter, yeast from beer, salt, and sugar while for the filling, you can let your imagination run wild. My advice is, whenever possible, to prepare two and differentiate them with fillings (maybe one with only tuna, salmon, and vegetables and another with cold cuts and cheeses), thus facilitating the choice of your guests.
Now take a minute to read the recipe and then… let’s cook and eat!!
See also
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients for a 1 kg mold
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups Manitoba flour
- 0.5 oz fresh brewer's yeast
- 1 cup milk (lukewarm)
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 6 tbsp butter (at room temperature)
- 3 egg yolks
- 2 tsp salt
- as needed lettuce
- as needed tomato
- as needed cheese (sliced)
- as needed mayonnaise
- as needed Milano salami
- as needed herb-cooked ham
- as needed spreadable cheese
- as needed vegetables (grilled)
- as needed tuna
- as needed smoked salmon
- as needed olive pâté
Tools
- 1 Stand Mixer
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Mold for 1 kg panettone
- 2 Skewers
- 1 Knife
- 1 Kitchen Scale
- 1 Plastic Wrap
Steps
To prepare the gastronomic panettone, I used the help of the stand mixer which, in the preparation of doughs richer in fats like this one, is definitely the best choice. However, you can replace the stand mixer with an electric hand mixer by attaching the spiral beaters.
If, instead, you don’t have either of these kitchen tools, arm yourself with patience because it will take a bit more time and especially elbow grease to knead.
In the bowl of the stand mixer, insert the two flours and mix them together, then add the lukewarm milk in which you have dissolved the brewer’s yeast, the egg yolks, milk, and sugar.
Knead with the paddle until the dough is bound and the walls of the bowl are completely clean.
At this point, replace the paddle with the hook and continue kneading, adding a little soft butter at a time, being careful not to add more until the previous has been completely absorbed by the dough.
Finally, add the salt and fully incorporate it into the dough.
Transfer the dough to a bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and let it rise until doubled, then take the dough, work it quickly on the work surface, and place it inside the panettone mold. Let it rise again until the surface of the dough almost reaches the upper edge of the mold.
Once risen, brush the surface with melted butter and bake the gastronomic panettone, in a preheated static oven, at 350°F for 45 minutes.
If you see that the surface tends to brown too much, cover it with foil and try to position the mold in the lower-middle part of your oven.
Once removed from the oven, using two metal skewers, pierce the panettone at the base, flip it upside down, and let it cool upside down by placing the free ends of the skewers on two supports of equal height (pots, stacks of books).
When it is completely cold, unmold it, wrap it in plastic wrap, and transfer it to the fridge for a few hours so it will be easier to slice.
After resting in the fridge, you can finally stuff your gastronomic panettone.
First, with a knife, make a cut at the base and a cut to separate the cap, then divide the panettone into an even number of discs so they can be paired.
For the filling, choose freely according to your tastes (among the ingredients, however, I have included some, among spreads, cold cuts, and fish, that can be used as fillings).
Once you have reassembled your gastronomic panettone, wrap it in plastic wrap and store it in the fridge until it’s time to serve it. However, don’t forget,
right before serving, to divide the gastronomic panettone into four parts, thus obtaining four slices for each filling.
With this last recipe of the year, I also leave you with my best wishes for a Happy New Year!!! 🥳🍾🥂
