Today we're making Casatiello! Casatiello is an Italian bread similar in shape to Pannetone, but it's filled with savory meat (usually salami) and cheese rather than candied fruit and nuts. It can also be made with bacon bits, different types of fresh or cured sausage, or with nonmeat substitutes. A few of the other bakers in the challenge are vegetarians so they used nonmeat substitutes.
I have to say that I really wasn't too keen on making this bread. I usually like to put meat and cheese on bread or between slices of bread, not in it! However, in the spirit of the challenge, I vowed to make it, albeit with a few substitutes. I'm not partial to salami so I decided to substitute pepperoni. I also decided to use an Italian blend of shredded cheeses (mozzarella, smoke-flavored provolone, romano, parmesan, fontina and asiago) rather than just provolone. Mostly because this is what they had at the grocery store. I'm trying to be as true to the recipes in the challenge as possible but still be practical about the whole thing. I've already got a freezer full of bread in my garage so I didn't want to make anything we wouldn't eat!
Okay. After saying all that, I really had fun with this recipe. Funny how that works! Since I didn't think I would like it anyway, I was a little more creative with the ingredients. I thought my sons would be the ones that liked it, but I was wrong. I liked it and they didn't...Go figure!
Here's what my version of Casatiello looks like!
Ok...let's get started baking already!
If you're following along with us, turn to page 129 in the Bread Baker's Apprentice to locate the recipe and list of ingredients.
Baking preliminaries:
The casatiello can be baked in 1 large or two small loaf pans, or a no. 10 can or a coffee can (with paper lunch bags inserted), or you can use paper or metal pannetone molds, or even an 8-inch cake pan. Since I've gotten into baking in coffee cans recently, I decided to use that method for this recipe.
Making the sponge:
Yep, you guessed it! Like most of the other breads in this book, this one is made with a sponge.
To make the sponge, stir together the flour and yeast in a bowl.
Then whisk in the milk to make a pancakelike batter. Easy enough, right?
Next, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and ferment at room temperature for 1 hour.
The sponge will foam and bubble and should collapse when you tap the bowl. My sponge fermented for longer than an hour. I'm a multi-tasker so I'm always trying to do to many things at once! Hey, at least I don't get bored!
Moving right along...
While the sponge is fermenting, dice the salami (or whatever meat or meat substitute you decide to use) into small cubes and saute it lightly in a frying pan. I sauteed the pepperoni to crisp it a little. Yes, I admit it - I ate some!
Making the Dough
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and sugar with a spoon.
Add the eggs and the sponge and mix together until all ingredients from a coarse ball.
If it's too dry, you can add a little extra milk to make sure you get all the loose flour mixed in.
Stir for about a minute, then let the dough rest for 10 minutes to let the gluten develop.
Then, divide the butter into 4 pieces.
Now, this is the tricky part! You're supposed to work the butter into the dough, one piece at a time, stirring vigorously with the spoon. However, using the spoon didn't work very well for me so I did this part by hand (or with my hands I should say). It's not bad if don't mind butter oozing through your hands. However, if you don't like playing in the dough, you should probably use your stand mixer for this part.
Kneading the Dough
At this point, the dough will be soft, but not a batter. The book says to continue mixing with the spoon, or switch to your hands but keep them floured as you knead. Well, I'm already doing that!
Keep working the dough until it's a smooth, tacky mass. It will take about 12 minutes.
Adding the meat and cheese
When the dough is smooth, add the meat pieces and knead until they are evenly distributed. This part was a little tricky with the pepperoni. If I ever make this again, I will probably use chunks of pepperoni. They should be easier to work with. However, for this one, I just used what I had. I usually keep sliced pepperoni around for homemade pizza so that's what I used.
Then, you gently knead in the cheese until it is evenly distributed as well. The dough should be soft and stretchy, very tacky but not sticky. If it is sticky, sprinkle in more flour until it firms up. I had to add a little extra flour but not much.
As you can see, it took awhile to knead all of the pepperoni and cheese in the dough.
First Rise
Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
Ferment at room temperature for about 90 minutes, or until the dough increases in size by at least 1 1/2 times.
Shaping the dough
Remove the dough from the bowl.
Divide the dough into two pieces for two small loaves. I'm baking the bread in brown sandwich-sized paper bags inserted into 1-pound coffee cans.
I sprayed the bags with cooking spray so the bread won't stick to the bags when I try to remove it.
Dust your hands and dough with flour. Then, it's time to begin the shaping process. Shape the dough pieces into two small boules. Refer to the photos below. If you need more instructions, turn to page 72 in the book.
Now it's time to put the boule into the prepared bag. Place a ball of dough in the prepared bag. There we go...easy does it!
Roll the top of the bag back to make a collar about 2 inches above the top of the dough.
Place the bag in a metal can just large enough to hold it.
Mist the top of the dough with spray oil and loosely cover the bags or pans with plastic wrap or a towel.
Second and Final Rise
Proof the dough in the cans for 60 to 90 minutes, or until the dough just reaches to the top of the bags or just crests to the top of the pans.
Baking the Bread
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, setting the oven rack in the lower third of the oven. This is so the top of the bread doesn't brown before the rest of the bread is baked.
Now, it's time to place the cans in the oven and bake for 20 minutes
.
Rotate the pans 180 degrees. Since we're baking in cans, we need to reduce the temperature to 325 degrees at this point.
Bake for an additional 30 to 40 minutes for the cans.
The dough will be golden brown on top and on the sides, and the cheese will ooze out into crisp little brown pockets. The bread should rise to just above the top of the bags. I inserted a wooden skewer into the bread to make sure it was done. It came out clean, but evenso, I think I could've cooked it a little longer. It was a little bit doughy. Although, I liked it that way.
Cooling the bread
When the bread is done, remove it from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack. If you are baking in cans as I am, remove the bags from the cans.
Then, either remove the bread from the bags or cut slits in the bags to allow the steam to escape. I slit the bags and let them cool a little bit.
Then, I removed the bags altogether to let the bread cool completely.
Let the bread cool for at least an hour before slicing or serving. Well, where's the fun in that! I want to eat it now!
It's finally cooled completely. Now, I can eat it! Would you like a slice? It's pretty good actually!
Thanks for joining us this week in the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge. See you next time...
If you would like to join the challenge, click here and share the fun.
Feel free to leave a comment about this blog, or submit your own bread experience. We'd love to highlight your story on The Bread Experience site.
Stay tuned for Day 6 of the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge:
Next time, we'll be making Challah. I'm looking forward to this one. Turn to page 133 in the Bread Baker's Apprentice to make sure you have everything you need to make this bread.
If you want to follow along with other bakers in the challenge, check out this site http://pinchmysalt.com/2009/05/14/the-bread-bakers-apprentice-challenge-has-begun/
Or, join the BBA Challenge Facebook Group
Happy Baking!
Cathy
You might also enjoy some of the other breads that we've featured in The Bread Experience bread making blog. Click on the links below to view the different types of breads:
2009 Bread Making Series
- May 2009: Baking Breads in Pots
April 2009: Easter and Other Breads
March 2009: Soda Breads
February 2009: Breakfast Breads
January 2009: Whole Wheat Breads
2008 Bread Making Series
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