The Neapolitan Casatiello
Traditional recipe and Thermomix method.
This delight is a typical recipe from the Neapolitan tradition.
It is prepared during the Easter period.
Born as a recycling recipe to reuse all the leftover cured meats and cheeses. In a poor reality, where butter was not used, the housewives created this delicacy as a way to get by; instead, they were creating a must of Neapolitan cuisine.
It consists of a leavened dough, enriched with lard (sugna), cured meats, cheeses, hard‑boiled eggs and lots of pepper.
What distinguishes the casatiello from the tortano is that in the tortano the eggs are cut into pieces and included in the dough like the pieces of cured meat, while in the casatiello they are whole and placed on top as decoration.
Another small curiosity: at least two tortani are usually prepared, one for Easter and one for Easter Monday.
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- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very inexpensive
- Rest time: 2 Hours
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 8
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Regional Italian
- Region: Campania
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter and Spring
- Energy 581.68 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 64.07 (g) of which sugars 1.72 (g)
- Proteins 24.48 (g)
- Fat 27.44 (g) of which saturated 10.58 (g)of which unsaturated 9.28 (g)
- Fibers 11.50 (g)
- Sodium 2,445.55 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 200 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
Ingredients
The Neapolitan Casatiello
- 4 cups flour
- 1.5 tbsp fresh yeast
- 1.25 cups water
- 1.25 tsp sugar
- 2 tbsp lard (or sugn(a))
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp salt
- 5.3 oz Neapolitan salami (cut into cubes)
- 5.3 oz fresh pecorino
- 3 eggs
The Neapolitan Casatiello
Tools
What we need to make it
- 1 Stand mixer or the Thermomix
- 1 Bundt pan 9 in
- 1 Pastry board
- 1 Knife
Steps
The Neapolitan Casatiello
Knead by hand or with a stand mixer.
In a bowl or in your stand mixer, put the lukewarm water, the yeast and the sugar.
Let everything dissolve. As soon as it is dissolved add half of the flour and the salt, and start kneading.
As you knead, you must add the rest of the flour, the oil and the lard.
Continue kneading until you get a homogeneous dough.
Leave the dough on a work surface or in a bowl, cover it and let it rise for about an hour. If the temperature is low, cover with a blanket.
Meanwhile, to get ahead, cut the salami and pecorino into small cubes.
Now that one hour of rising has passed, remove from the dough a ball of about 200 g, which you will use for decoration, i.e. to cage the eggs on top of the casatiello.
Spread the dough out on the work surface.
And now it is time to add the pieces of salami and cheese directly into the dough.
Work the casatiello until all the ingredients are incorporated, add plenty of pepper, then roll it up tightly, always sealing the ends with your fingers.
Transfer everything into the bundt pan with a diameter of 12 in, after greasing it with a little lard (sugna).
Place the eggs on top and with the remaining dough form strips that you will use to cage the eggs.
Bake the casatiello for about 1 hour at 356 °F in a conventional oven, placed in the center. If after the indicated time it has not browned enough, keep it a few more minutes until it takes on a golden color.
As soon as it is cooked, remove from the oven and let it cool before unmolding.
Procedure using the measuring cup on the lid.
Pour into the bowl the water, the yeast and the sugar — 3 min at 99 °F, speed 1.
As soon as everything is dissolved add half of the flour and the salt, and knead for 5 min on knead setting (spiga).
While you are kneading, through the hole add the rest of the flour, the oil and the lard.
Continue kneading on the knead setting until you obtain a homogeneous dough.
From here on follow point 3 as described above.
Storage
The Neapolitan Casatiello: It keeps for 3 days if well wrapped at room temperature.
