Bread, meat, cheese ...
Italian take on Easter loaf studs dough with savory fillings
KELLEY SAYS: Sometimes you just get lucky — if that’s the right word. We started thinking about what to prepare for this month’s Courters’ Kitchen about 10 days ago. We try to consider the time of the year, an upcoming holiday and what’s available at the local markets or in the garden, and work that into the dish.
BARRY SAYS: We do think about all of those things, but sometimes we just make what we want. And, when I say we, I really mean Kelley. She is the cook. I am the eater and the one who gets paid to write. But, in any case, I know where she is going with this story. She was stressing as usual about what to make, and then she stumbled across one of the TV cooking shows and was intrigued by a bread dish. To the internet she goes and …
KELLEY: Not only did I find several recipes, but I learned it is considered an Easter loaf by many in the Italian community. Since we had talked about doing something for Easter, this seemed like a good choice.
BARRY: This is her superpower. Well, cooking is her superpower, but choosing the right thing at the right time is
her second superpower. Is that possible? Is that even fair? Anyway, the dish was amazing.
KELLEY: This did come with a real challenge for me. I do not bake. Baking involves following directions to the letter, and I like to improvise. There are a couple of things I would do differently. I might add sun-dried tomatoes, for example, but the main thing is that I would pay attention to the shape of the loaf before putting it in the oven and even shortly after it starts to bake. I put it on a cookie sheet, and it spread out with some high and low points, meaning it didn’t cook evenly.
This also could have been because I placed the meat and cheese in the refrigerator so it was cold before the second rising.
BARRY: Nevertheless, I think we both liked it and can see us doing it again.
KELLEY: To be sure, but next time I will add more meat and cheese. I think it would make it more crispy and brown. I would like to see more of the big bites in the crust. I might also divide it in half and make two smaller versions instead of one big one.
Contact Barry and Kelley Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.
Easter Prosciutto Bread
The bread:
1 package fast-rising dry
yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
1 cup tepid water (hot
out of the sink)
1⁄4 cup melted butter 2 tablespoons olive oil 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
2 3⁄4 cups bread flour
In a small bowl, stir together yeast, sugar and water, and let ferment for about 10 minutes. In small bowl, melt butter in the microwave, and combine with olive oil. Mix salt and flour in a large bowl with your dough hook. Set aside half. When yeast is ready, slowly add to half of your flour mixture using dough hook. Slowly add in butter and olive oil. Slowly add rest of flour, and mix on low for 10 minutes. Once mixed, cover and place in warm area to rise for 60 to 90 minutes.
The meat
12 slices pepperoni 2 ounces prosciutto 2 ounces mortadella
with pistachio 5 slices sopressata salami slices
Slice or cube to fit into a blender. Roughly chop, and place in a bowl.
The Cheese
3 slices provolone
1.5 ounces aged asiago
Grate cheeses in the blender, and add to meat mixture.
Keep this out; do not place into refrigerator. You will be adding it to the dough to rise a second time.
The rest
Cracked black pepper, to
taste
18 whole cloves roasted
garlic
1 teaspoon chopped rosemary
Blend meat, cheese, pepper, garlic and rosemary into the bread and knead, turning it unto itself repeatedly until thoroughly mixed. Let rise a second time for another 90 minutes.
Place onto a cookie sheet, and bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. Slice and serve.
We served ours with a tomato, a pesto sauce and a salad. I also think it could be served with a nice bowl of tomato soup.