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Pizza di Pasqua al formaggio
Easter cheese bread
Pizza di Pasqua: Umbria and Marche's tall savoury Easter cheese bread
On Easter morning in Perugia, Ancona and the villages of Umbria and the Marche, families sit down to a breakfast that comes after Lent: a tall, golden cheese bread, rich with eggs, pecorino and Parmigiano, sliced and eaten with hard-boiled eggs and salami that has been blessed in church. The bread rises high like a panettone and has a soft yellow crumb dotted with cubes of cheese. Pecorino and Parmigiano are usually made with animal rennet; vegetarian hard cheeses work. Chef's tip: bake it in a tall, straight-sided tin or a clean coffee can lined with paper; the high sides help it rise up rather than spread.
- Total time
- 110 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 12
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ lb strong white bread flour
- ½ cup whole milklukewarm
- 5 eggsplus 1 yolk for brushing
- 1 egg yolkfor brushing
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 ¾ oz buttersoft
- 3 ½ oz pecorino or a vegetarian hard cheesegrated
- 2 ⅞ oz Parmigiano Reggiano or a vegetarian hard cheesegrated
- 3 ½ oz young pecorino or gruyèrediced small
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Mix 1 ¼ lb strong white bread flour, ⅓ oz fast-action dried yeast, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp black pepper. Add ½ cup whole milk, 5 eggs and ¼ cup olive oil and knead with a dough hook for 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
10 minStep 2: Knead in 1 ¾ oz butter, then 3 ½ oz pecorino or a vegetarian hard cheese and 2 ⅞ oz Parmigiano Reggiano or a vegetarian hard cheese, for 5 minutes. Mix in 3 ½ oz young pecorino or gruyère. The dough will be soft and sticky.
5 minStep 3: Cover and leave for 2 hours in a warm place, until doubled.
120 minStep 4: Butter a tall 18–20 cm cake tin and line the sides with baking paper coming 5 cm above the rim. Shape the dough into a ball and drop it in. Cover and leave for 1½–2 hours, until it rises close to the top of the paper.
100 minStep 6: Cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then on a rack. It slices best the next day.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 400 kcal
- Protein
- 16 g
- Carbs
- 36 g
- Fat
- 21 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does pizza di Pasqua al formaggio take?
- About 110 minutes in total: 60 minutes to prepare and 50 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 12 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of strong white bread flour?
- Plain flour, same amount (the dough will be softer and rise a little less).
- What can I use instead of fast-action dried yeast?
- Fresh yeast, three times the weight.
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Perfect for:Easter