Easter Cheese Pizza, also known as Easter Crescia, is a tall, flavorful, and super soft yeast bread typical of the culinary tradition of the Marche and Umbria regions, prepared throughout central Italy.
The recipe, besides flour, eggs, milk, and oil, features a generous amount of grated parmesan and pecorino and an equally generous amount of ground pepper, giving this yeast bread a unique and inimitable flavor.
Traditionally served especially for Easter breakfast, but also as an appetizer during Easter and Easter Monday lunch accompanied by cold cuts and cheeses, Easter Cheese Pizza is perfect all year round for special aperitifs and buffets.
This recipe is very easy to prepare; the only phase where you need to pay a bit more attention is when kneading the dough by hand before rising. If you have the patience to knead energetically for about ten minutes, you will get a tall and super soft Easter pizza!
Below you will find all the steps in detail, along with the FULL VIDEO, so you can’t go wrong 🙂
Here are other typical Easter recipes of mine that may interest you:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Affordable
- Rest time: 2 Hours
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: serves for a 6-inch diameter base pan
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Easter, Winter, Spring
Ingredients for the EASTER CHEESE PIZZA
In the ingredient list, you will find the specified Manitoba flour and yeast that I specifically used; it’s not necessary to use the same brands, but it might help you achieve my result more easily.
- 10 1/2 oz Manitoba flour (of good quality)
- 7 oz all-purpose flour
- 2 eggs (medium)
- 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 5 1/3 oz grated parmesan (of excellent quality)
- 2 3/4 oz pecorino cheese (grated, of excellent quality)
- 1 cup milk (lukewarm)
- 1 packet dry yeast
- 2 tsp sugar
- 9 g salt
- black pepper (ground, about a level tablespoon)
Tools for making the EASTER CHEESE PIZZA
- Mold conical aluminum with a top diameter of 8 inches
- Bowl large glass
- Hand Whisk
Steps to make EASTER CHEESE PIZZA
In a bowl, pour the Manitoba flour, the all-purpose flour, the dry yeast and the sugar; stir for a few seconds to evenly distribute the ingredients.
In another bowl, the largest you have, break the eggs and beat them with a hand whisk for a few seconds, then add the oil, the salt, the ground pepper, and the warm milk. Stir again until well combined.
While still stirring, now add the parmesan and the pecorino.
Once you have a nice homogeneous mixture, you can start adding the dry ingredients you prepared at the beginning little by little.
From the moment you start adding the flours, I recommend ditching the hand whisk and starting to mix with a fork as the mixture becomes workable by hand and you will need to transfer it to the work surface.
Knead with your hands (of course, a stand mixer would also work fine if you have one), adding another couple of handfuls of all-purpose flour if you notice the dough is a bit too sticky, for about 10 minutes. The more you knead the dough, the softer the final result will be.
After ten minutes, by which time you should have obtained a smooth and homogeneous dough, place it back in the bowl, sprinkling the base of the bowl with a little flour, and cover it with plastic wrap.
For optimal rising, preheat the oven to 122°F, then turn it off leaving the light on and place the bowl inside until the dough has doubled in volume; this will take about an hour or a little more.
After this first rise, pour the dough onto the work surface, gently and lightly deflate it with your hands, fold it ‘like a wallet’ (SEE VIDEO BY CLICKING HERE) and place it in the aluminum mold greased and floured, trying to form a homogeneous ball.
Cover with plastic wrap, preheat the oven again to 122°F, turn it off keeping the light on and place the mold in the oven until the dough, with rising, reaches the edge of the mold; this will take about another hour.
After this second rise, remove the mold from the oven and preheat it to 356°F in static mode. Once the temperature is reached, bake your Easter Cheese Pizza placing it on the lowest rack of the oven.
Bake for about 40-45 minutes, covering the top when you see it risks darkening too much.
Very important: after the indicated baking time, do the cooking test with a wooden skewer; your Easter Cheese Pizza is ready only when the skewer comes out completely dry.
Let it cool slightly or completely, then you can remove the Easter Cheese Pizza from the mold and serve it. If you have never tried it, you will be amazed by its goodness!
Storage and Tips
Easter Cheese Pizza will be even better the next day, so it’s perfect for making in advance!
It keeps moist and super soft for at least three days when well sealed inside a plastic food bag or, if you don’t have one, wrapped in aluminum foil.
It can also be frozen.
As for the amount of pepper to add to the dough, it will depend greatly on your taste; the amount I indicated is a guide and not abundant 😉
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
Is it possible to replace dry yeast with fresh yeast?
Yes, in this case, you will need to use 25 g of fresh yeast.
Is it possible to replace yeast with instant yeast?
No, it is not possible to use instant yeast for this recipe.
Is it possible to add soft cheese diced to the dough? If so, at what stage of the recipe?
Sure, you can add a soft cheese, such as Emmental, to the dough before the second rise.
