Casatiello - Neapolitan Easter Pie
A recipe for a rolled pie made of yeast dough with a savory taste. Inside the pie, there are chunks of cheese, smoked sausage, and hard-boiled eggs. This dish is very hearty, a piece of this pie can easily replace a meal. Easter in Naples isn't complete without Casatiello, which is served at the festive dinner along with appetizers and eaten in the following days. The dough must contain an essential ingredient such as lard (rendered pork fat). Thanks to it, the dough turns out fragrant, slightly crumbly, and crispy, and the pie stays fresh for a long time without getting stale. If you don't have lard, you can replace it with clarified butter.
To prepare Casatiello, pour warm water and milk into a bowl and add yeast, stirring until the yeast dissolves completely.
Add half of the flour (10-11 cups), mix and leave in a warm place for 40-50 minutes to rise.
The sponge should double in size.
Add the remaining flour, salt, sugar, lard to the sponge, and knead a soft and elastic dough. Knead the dough well and let it rise (for 1 hour until the dough doubles in size).
Cut the hard cheese, sausage, and eggs into small cubes.
Grate the hard cheese finely.
Punch down the risen dough and take a piece the size of an egg. Roll out the remaining dough into a rectangle about 24x14 inches and 0.12-0.16 inches thick. Grease the top with pork fat.
Evenly sprinkle grated cheese and ground black pepper on top.
Spread the pieces of sausage, cheese, and eggs.
Roll up the dough tightly, pinch the edges of the roll.
Grease a form (with a hole in the center) with lard and dust with flour. Place the roll in the form, joining the ends. Let it rise for about 1 hour.
Place boiled and dried eggs on top of the roll at equal distances, slightly pressing them. From the dough set aside earlier, make 6 strips of dough. Place them criss-cross on top of the eggs and secure.
Brush the surface of the pie with egg yolk.
Place the Casatiello in a preheated oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit and bake until golden brown (40-50 minutes).
For the filling, I used Parmesan and semi-soft cheese, smoked sausage - Braunschweiger, salami will work perfectly as well. You can use 100g of smoked sausage and 100g of bacon, adjust to your taste.