Hornazo de Salamanca, a typical dish of the Salamanca gastronomy, particularly consumed during the Monday of the Waters, celebrating the return of women after Lent
A traditional Spanish savory pie, mainly consumed during Easter holidays.
Its preparation varies significantly depending on the region, where the basic element of a stuffed baked pie is maintained.
Regional differences are seen in the choice of filling ingredients, consumption traditions, and specific culinary preparations.
Typical of the provinces of Salamanca and Ávila, this hornazo consists of a yeast dough filled with pork loin, spicy chorizo, and hard-boiled eggs.
Some variants also include cured ham (jamón curado) and the traditional hornazo de Salamanca dough uses lard (manteca de cerdo) instead of butter.
With its leavened dough and rich meat and egg filling, it has many gastronomic cousins around the world such as:
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 8People
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Spanish
- Seasonality: Easter
Ingredients for a 9.5-inch pan:
- 4 cups flour
- 7 tbsps lard (manteca de cerdo)
- 15 g fresh yeast
- 2 eggs
- 0.4 cups water
- 0.4 cups extra virgin olive oil
- 0.4 cups white wine
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- tsps sweet paprika (pimenton dulce)
- 7 oz chorizo
- 9 oz pork loin (filetto di maiale)
- 3 hard-boiled eggs
- 1 egg (for brushing)
Steps
Prepare the dough:
Dissolve the yeast in some lukewarm water with the sugar.
In a large bowl, mix the flour with the salt and the paprika.
Add the eggs, oil, white wine, lard, and the water with the dissolved yeast.Knead until smooth and elastic.
Cover and let rise for about 1 hour.
Prepare the filling:
Slice the chorizo and pork loin.
Peel and halve the hard-boiled eggs.Assemble the hornazo:
Divide the dough into two equal parts.
Roll out the first part on a floured surface.
Evenly distribute the filling over the dough base.
Cover with the other part of the dough and seal the edges.
Brush the surface with beaten egg.
Make small holes on top to allow steam to escape during baking.Baking:
Preheat the oven to 356°F.
Bake the hornazo for about 45 minutes, or until the surface is golden brown.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
What are the different types of hornazo?
– Hornazo de Salamanca.
– Almería:
In the province of Almería, hornazo is a sweet elongated bread with a braid on top enclosing a hard-boiled egg. It is consumed from Easter Monday until St. Mark’s Day (April 25), during outings or picnics in the fields.
– Cádiz:
In Cádiz, hornazo is a homemade cake, typical of the Monday of Quasimodo (second Monday after Easter). It consists of a cake base with a hard-boiled egg in the center, decorated with sweets and various cookies.
–
Granada:
In Granada, hornazo is consumed on April 25, St. Mark’s Day. It is a small sandwich or bread made with oil dough, with a raw egg in the center, baked with the dough. Traditionally, it is eaten with green beans, ham, bacon, or cod.
– Albacete:
In the province of Albacete, hornazo is consumed on Fat Thursday (Thursday before Carnival). It consists of a bread pie with an egg, a sardine, a chorizo, and strips of pepper on top.
– Toledo:
In Toledo, hornazo is sweet and typical of the pilgrimage in honor of the Virgin of Peace, celebrated the second Sunday of May. It consists of a butter and sugar cake, covered with sugared egg white and decorated with anise balls and chocolate flakes with a hard-boiled egg in the center.
– Puertollano (Ciudad Real):
In Puertollano, hornazo is consumed the Sunday after Easter. It is a sweet pie with hard-boiled eggs incorporated into the dough, decorated with sugar. It is traditionally eaten during outings in the field.
– Cuenca:
In Cuenca, hornazo is a pie garnished with hard-boiled eggs, consumed during the Easter Monday snack.
– Madrid:
In the Community of Madrid, especially in the Alcarria de Chinchón, hornazo is a sweet with a hard-boiled egg in the center, prepared to be consumed in the countryside on Easter Sunday.
– Jaén:
In Jaén, hornazo is a sweet with a hard-boiled egg in the center, consumed from Easter Monday to St. Mark’s Day.
– Zamora:
In the province of Zamora, hornazo is typical of the regions of Aliste and Sayago. It is a bread pie filled with chorizo, bacon, pork loin, and hard-boiled eggs.
– Ávila:
In Ávila, hornazo is a bread pie filled with chorizo, bacon, pork loin, and hard-boiled eggs, consumed during Easter holidays.What is Lunes de aguas?
Lunes de Aguas is a popular tradition in Salamanca, celebrated on the 8th day after Easter, that is, the Monday following Easter.
This festivity marks the end of Lent and the beginning of the spring season, with a return to normalcy after the period of religious abstinence.
In the 16th century, King Philip II ordered that the prostitutes of Salamanca be moved across the Tormes River during Lent, as part of moral purification measures.
At the end of Lent, these women returned to the city crossing the river, greeted with celebrations by university students.
This tradition became known as “Lunes de Aguas,” where the return of the women was celebrated with food, drinks, and merriment.
Today, Lunes de Aguas is a lively festival that attracts thousands of people, including university students, families, and tourists.
People gather in parks, along the river, and in surrounding countryside to enjoy a day outdoors, eat hornazo, listen to music, and participate in games and dances.
The festivity has been recognized as a Festival of Touristic Interest of Castilla y León, highlighting its cultural and touristic importance.If I wanted to use sourdough for the hornazo?
For a sourdough version, replace the fresh yeast with 100 g of active sourdough.
Follow the same procedure described above, using sourdough instead of fresh yeast.
Let the dough rise for 2-3 hours, or until doubled in volume.
Proceed as described in the previous preparation.
🌍 Map of traditional filled breads similar to Hornazo:
🇪🇸 Spain
Hornazo (Salamanca): bread filled with loin, chorizo, hard-boiled eggs. Typical of “Lunes de Aguas”.
↪ Structure similar to a closed, savory, festive focaccia.
🇮🇹 Italy
Casatiello (Campania): leavened bread with lard, cold cuts, and cheeses, whole eggs on the surface.
Torta Pasqualina (Liguria): savory pastry filled with vegetables and eggs.
Pitta ‘nchiusa (Calabria): sweet or savory, rolled and filled, less structurally similar but Easter-related.
🇵🇹 Portugal
Folar de Chaves: Easter bread with meat inside (shoulder, chorizo), sometimes hard-boiled eggs.
↪ Very similar to Hornazo, also for leavened dough and savory filling.
Folar da Páscoa: Easter bread with whole eggs (also decorative) and religious symbolism.
Variety: sweet or savory. In the savory version, the filling can include cured meats like presunto or chouriço.
🇬🇷 Greece
Koulouri me Avga (Greek Easter bread): less stuffed, with colored eggs on the surface.
↪ Similar aesthetic, less complex internally.
Tsoureki (less common savory version): better known as a sweet Easter bread, but some regional savory versions with eggs exist.
🇧🇷 Brazil
Pão Recheado: bread filled with meat, cheese, olives. Not Easter-related but similar in style.
🇲🇽 Mexico
Rosca de Reyes (modern savory versions): some versions reinterpret the Epiphany sweet in a savory key, with ingredients similar to hornazo.
