Neapolitan casatiello – grandma’s recipe, a Neapolitan delicacy made from leavened dough enriched with cured meats and finished with the inevitable fresh eggs set into the surface, one of the traditional Campanian recipes most widely known and somewhat reminiscent of the tortano.
Unlike the Neapolitan tortano, however, in the casatiello the eggs are placed whole on the surface and secured with strips of dough, while in the tortano they are cut into pieces and inserted directly into the filling together with cured meats and cheeses. The traditional casatiello is a specialty that, like the pastiera, the sfogliatella frolla and the sfogliatella riccia, the Mostaccioli, and many other treats, forms part of the immense culinary heritage of Naples and Campania. In short, the savory Neapolitan casatiello is a rustic preparation that stars on the Easter menu alongside Neapolitan Pizza chiena and now also on the Christmas menu. And, of course, every family has its own version it considers unique and unbeatable; the only essential thing to make a casatiello using grandma’s recipe is to be generous with its filling of cured meats and cheeses. What are the origins of the casatiello? Very likely the name casatiello derives from the Latin word caseus, meaning cheese, which later became ‘cacio’, a very important ingredient of the original Neapolitan casatiello. The base dough of the casatiello is a bread dough enriched with cheeses, cured meats and lard and requires two rises: one initial rise, and another after the dough has been enriched with the ingredients that form the filling and placed in the ring mold. It is also decorated with eggs arranged in a circle and secured with a cross of dough to represent the crown of thorns of Jesus.
Tradition holds that the casatiello is one of the many savory Easter pies eaten in Italy, and that it is eaten on Holy Saturday and never before that day, to then be finished over the following days up to Easter Monday.
Now let’s go to the kitchen and discover grandma’s casatiello recipe.
If you wish, you can also prepare it in advance, because it stays soft and flavorful for several days.
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