The rustic homemade tortano is one of the recipes I always make during Easter. If you’re organizing the holiday menu, I recommend trying my spinach and ricotta Easter pie and the cheese cake, two great classics perfect to bring to the table along with this Neapolitan savory bread.
It’s a great traditional classic, a truly rich and flavorful Neapolitan rustic, ideal to share with the whole family.
At my husband’s request, every year I make the tortano kneading everything by hand, but this time I wanted to try the dough in the Bimby to see the result. I must say it turned out great: soft, well risen and really tasty.
This Easter recipe is perfect not only for the holiday lunch but also for picnics, day trips or an informal dinner. Every slice is soft and fragrant, with a tasty filling of cured meats, cheeses and hard-boiled eggs that makes this Easter tortano irresistible.
I used a mix of tipo 00 flour and Manitoba flour, enriching the dough with pecorino for an even more intense flavor. The result is a soft tortano with an authentic taste, just like the traditional one.
Easter recipes to try:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Affordable
- Rest time: 3 Hours
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Cooking time: 40 Minutes
- Portions: 10Pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Spring, Easter
- Energy 604.77 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 42.89 (g) of which sugars 1.38 (g)
- Proteins 28.24 (g)
- Fat 35.77 (g) of which saturated 15.44 (g)of which unsaturated 17.19 (g)
- Fibers 1.62 (g)
- Sodium 1,291.51 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 178 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Tortano rustic homemade ingredients
- 2 1/3 cups tipo 00 flour
- 2 1/3 cups Manitoba flour
- 1 1/4 cups water (room temperature)
- 0.4 oz fresh yeast
- 10 tbsp lard (or butter)
- 2 tbsp pecorino (grated)
- 1 pinch salt
- 7 oz Neapolitan salami
- 3 hard-boiled eggs
- 3.5 oz pancetta
- 3.5 oz cooked ham (diced)
- 3.5 oz Gruyère
- 3.5 oz Provolone
- 2.1 oz pecorino (grated)
- to taste black pepper
- 1 egg (beaten)
Useful tools
- Kitchen machine Bimby
- Bundt cake pans type chiffon cake or angel cake 10.25 in
- Bowl
- Work surface
- Rolling pin
- Pastry brush kitchen
Procedure for rustic homemade tortano
To prepare the rustic homemade tortano I start by dissolving the yeast in the lukewarm water directly in the Bimby bowl. Run for 30 seconds at 99°F speed 2.
I add the flours and the lard, then knead for 2 minutes in dough mode. I add the pecorino and the salt and continue working the dough for another minute, until you obtain a soft, elastic and well-bound mixture.
I transfer the dough to a bowl, cover it and let it rise until doubled, about 2 hours.
Once ready, I roll the dough out on a work surface forming a rectangle. I brush the entire surface with the beaten egg and sprinkle with more grated pecorino, so as to make the filling even more flavorful.
I then distribute the filling evenly: salami, cooked ham, Gruyère, provolone and the hard-boiled eggs cut into pieces.
I roll the dough forming a cylinder, trying to tighten it well. I transfer it to the ring mold, in this case a chiffon cake pan, and join the ends.
I let it rise again for about 1–2 hours, until it is nicely puffed.
I bake in a conventional oven at 338°F for about 40 minutes. In the last minutes I switch on the broiler to get a golden and slightly crisp surface.
Storage and useful tips
The rustic homemade tortano can be kept at room temperature for 2–3 days, well covered with plastic wrap or in an airtight container, so it maintains all its softness.
It is even better the next day, because the flavors of the filling blend perfectly and become even more intense.
If you want to enjoy it warm, you can heat it for a few minutes in the oven: it will be crisp again as if just made.
You can also freeze it already sliced, so you always have it ready. Just let it thaw at room temperature and heat it slightly before serving.
The surface color will never be completely uniform: it’s a typical characteristic of homemade rustics, especially when the filling is rich and tends to surface during baking.
For more even baking you can cover the tortano with a sheet of aluminum foil halfway through baking, preventing it from darkening too much on the surface.
If you prefer, you can replace the lard with butter in the same amount, still obtaining an excellent result, slightly more delicate in flavor.
