Umbrian Easter Cheese bread
In Umbria cannot be Easter without the” Pizza di Pasqua” Easter cheese bread.
In the Christian tradition, on the Holy Saturday, our families bring Easter bread , boiled eggs, red wine, salt and Capocollo cured meat food to the church for the food’s blessing.
You will find it in every house, already pre-prepared in our kitchens in “industrial” quantities, we do not cook one but at list we cook 10 cakes, to give, to be blessed, to show off and to compare.
We do a “religious pilgrimage”, we go around to all of our aunts/relatives tasting their easter bread to decide who was the best baker, the Easter bread queen.
Our quick recipe:
Ingredients:
- 250ml milk
- 60g brewer’s yeast
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 250g Manitoba floar
- 450g Italian 00 floar or strong white or a mixture of 50% strong white and 50% plain white to approximate 00
- 3 eggs plus a yolk for brushing the cakes pans
- 100ml extra virgin olive oil
- 150g of grated pecorino cheese
- 200g of grated parmesan cheese
- 100g Gruyere cheese cutted into dices
- 2 teaspoons salt
- a pinch of pepper
- lard to grease the cakes pans
Method:
Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the lukewarm water and leave to ferment for 5 minutes. Sieve 100 grams of flour in a bowl, make a well, pour in the yeast and mix. Cover with a spoonful of flour and leave to ferment for an hour. Unite both mixtures and add the remaining flour. Roll into a ball and leave to rest in a bowl covered with a cloth. Leave to rest at room temperature for 45 minutes, until it has doubled in size. Grease a round 16cm base tin, 12cm high. Place the mixture inside the tin and leave to rise until it is as high as the tin. Torta di Pasqua should be baked in an oven at 190 degrees for 50 minutes, until golden in colour. Leave to cool and serve cold!
In a bowl dissolve the yeast and sugar in the lukewarm milk add a little flour and and leave to ferment for 10 minutes.
Return the bowl and start adding the other ingredients, can help with electric hooks or mix everything in a planetary. We combine one at a time: eggs, oil, various grated cheese, salt, pepper, alternating with the flour, stirring well each time until you have a smooth paste.
Now the floured work surface or “table”, pour the mixture and continue to knead, adding flour and Swiss cheese until you get a soft, smooth dough.
Cover with a cloth and let rise for half an hour.
We prepare the molds with high edges, perfect those of panettone, anoint them with lard or oil.
Just doubled the mass divide it into 2 or 3 parts, the round up and put it into the molds, taking care to fill them in half, the last double leavening volume and cottuta also.
Let rise for another half an hour in a warm place.
Preriscaldiamo the oven to 180 degrees.
Now we take our torteben leavened, the spennelliamo with egg yolk and let cook for 40 minutes.
Here is ready our fast cakes and cheese.
Happy Easter everyone!!!
