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Casatiello: No Need to Make a Sandwich

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Slice of Casatiello: Italian brioche with Salami and Cheese

This savory Italian bread already has all of my favorite sandwich ingredients inside of it!

For week five of The Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge, I baked Casatiello. Peter Reinhart describes it as a rich, dreamy Italian elaboration of brioche.  His description is beautiful and poetic, but the Casatiello is even more so.  Rich, but light and fluffy, studded with chunks of salami and filled with oozing pockets of cheese, this bread stole my heart.

Casatiello Bread inside a Springform Pan

Not only was this one of the most delicious breads I’ve ever tasted, but I was able to start and finish it on the same day!  It doesn’t bother me that the other BBA breads took a couple of days to make, I’m always willing to wait for good bread.  But it was certainly nice to know that this time around my bread making efforts would be rewarded at the end of an afternoon rather than a day or two later.

And what a reward it was!

Casatiello Bread inside a Springform Pan

The process of making this bread was very similar to the Brioche that I wrote about last week.  But this one doesn’t contain nearly as much butter and I found that the dough was much easier to work with.  I took a ton of photos as I was putting this bread together, but due to some crazy technical difficulties this morning, I’m not going to be able to share them with you today.  It’s just been one of those days.

Once I am able to recover all of my step-by-step photos, I will add them to this post along with a more in-depth description of how I made this bread.  But in the meantime, check out these other BBA Members who have made Casatiello:

The Next Bread

This week we will be making Challah, the braided Sabbath bread of Judaism.  I’m excited about making Challah because it will be my first time braiding a bread dough!  The ingredients for this one are simple, and the bread can be made in one day.  The bread instructions begin on page 133 of The Bread Baker’s Apprentice.  Instructions (including photos) for braiding the dough begin on page 84.  Good luck and happy baking!

Want to Bake Along With Us?

There are several ways for you to join in the fun!  First of all, you need a copy of Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice.  Read the first section of the book carefully, as this will prepare you for the bread recipes in the second section of the book.  Then just jump in and bake some Anadama Bread! But first, please visit The BBA Challenge Page for more details on how to participate in the group!

If you haven’t already, you might want to bookmark the BBA Challenge Page.  From there you can see which breads are coming up soon, find answers to Frequently Asked Questions, visit and/or add yourself to our World Map, see the BBA Challenge Blogroll, and check out the continually updated slideshow of BBA Bread photos from our ever-expanding group of bakers!

For those of you who are participating in The BBA Challenge, here are some questions:  How did you like the Casatiello?  Do you think it deserved a week of it’s own, even though it’s basically a variation of the brioche we made last week?  Which meat, cheese or other ingredients did you add to the dough?  What type of pan did you bake it in?  Did you learn anything new while using this formula?

And remember, if you wrote a blog post about Casatiello, or have photos available online, please leave a comment and share your link!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Allen says

    Love your cheesy caverns! I'm so stupid - I didn't even think about using my springform pan! If you decide to try panettone papers, I know that Sur La Table carried them (if there's one near you). I think I've got one more bread baking week in me ... hollah' for challah!
    Reply

  3. Nancy/n.o.e says

    Beautiful bread, Nicole! I love that you list links to BBAChallenge participants each week, especially this time - I'm getting inspired by their cheesy variations. Hmm, an advantage to baking after the pack...
    Reply

  4. Rebeca says

    Yes, the springform pan is a great idea! I loved this bread as well. Made grilled cheese with it today and it was great. Mmmmm... http://carriedonthewind.blogspot.com/2009/06/bba-challenge-4-casatiello.html
    Reply

  5. Dianne says

    Beautiful and poetic indeed! I made two loaves, one with Genoa salami and provolone and one with Moroccan olives and provolone. I loved working with the dough -- so smooth and forgiving and, just, easy. I baked my loaves in paper panettone molds. This is definitely a bread I'll make again and again! Looking forward to seeing the rest of your photos, Nicole, if the technical difficulties ever release you from their evil clutches! http://stoveria.blogspot.com/2009/06/bread-bakers-apprentice-543-casatiello.html
    Reply

  6. Paula - bell'alimento says

    Nicole your bread is awesome! & that picture makes me drool! I really liked this bread. My post is here http://www.bellalimento.com/2009/06/12/il-pane-castatiello I used pancetta & mozzarella! Delish. I baked mine in cake pans but I think next time I'll bake it in a tube pan & just do one giant loaf! Looking forward to Challah this week!
    Reply

  7. chris says

    Your bread looks so amazing in a spring form pan. I never even thought about it. Looks fantastic as always, can't wait to see the rest! I loved the dough and found it way easier to work with than the rich-man's brioche I made last week. I found it to be more of a speciality bread, and it didn't disappear as fast as other breads (not as versatile I guess I'm trying to say). My bread - http://eatingisthehardpart.blogspot.com/2009/06/casatiello-bread-bakers-apprentice.html
    Reply

  8. Devany says

    Your bread is lovely, as usual. Nice lighting on the pictures too. Glad to hear you got past your technical difficulties! Here is my post: http://myhawaiianhome.blogspot.com/2009/06/casatiello.html Devany Hilo, HI
    Reply

  10. sara says

    Wow, totally gorgeous photos! The first one is especially beautiful with the light shining through the bread like that! Here's my post: http://cupcakemuffin.blogspot.com/2009/06/bba-challenge-casatiello.html
    Reply

  11. amanda says

    hot damn, this was awesome! i know you said you want to sub the sausage for olives but it was sooooooooooooo good as is. in the afterlife this bread has negative calories and i will skinny from gorging on it. ;-)
    Reply

  13. Katie says

    Looks great. I love your discussion questions at the end. At first, I was kind of thinking it didn't deserve an extra week, but now I'm really glad I made it. I made a vegan version. I was quite skeptical about all the substitutions that I'd have to make, but it was actually really good. My post is here: http://urbanpeasantry.blogspot.com/2009/06/casatiello.html
    Reply

  14. Valérie says

    Very nice! When I first saw it, I thought it was a sweet bread (like panetonne), but now that I know it's savoury, I'm even more intrigued! A light-ish brioche sounds ideal! Great job!
    Reply

  16. Patricia says

    This has been a wonderful challenge, even if I did learn about it a bit late! I enjoyed this bread, and I do think it deserved its own week. Forced me to learn how to incorporate bits into dough. However my dough was very stiff right from the get-go. I kind of wish the book had more pictures of the various doughs in progress, rather like your blog! I am looking forward to seeing your pics. But looking at the links to other blogs I'd say my dough was dry. As a result, when I kneaded the cheese in, it actually got fully incorporated - no little pockets of cheese just cheese in every bite! My husband loves it.
    Reply

  17. MyKitchenInHalfCups says

    I called it: A sandwich in a slice. Breakfast in a slice. Lunch in a slice. Pizza in a slice. We both totally are in love with this one. I love your round (I did loaves) and your gorgeous crumb! Here's my post http://tinyurl.com/msdvos
    Reply

  19. Maury says

    I guess I made the Trader Joes version: Chianti salami, goat mozzerella and 4 cheese blend all from Trader Joes. I thought the bread itself was closer to challah dough than brioche. I upped the amounts of "stuff" to a cup of salami (7 oz.) and 1/2 cup of each cheese. It was awesome. I really couldn't have added more salami. Bits kept falling out as I was forming the first ball of dough. Once it rose some, the bread could hold on to all of the salami. I baked it in a 9 inch cake pan with a tall parchment collar, which worked really well. It baked for 45 minutes, but I could have left it another 5 or so. It was *just* baked through. I baked it in time for dinner on Thursday (it was dinner with leek/potato soup and salad) and it was completely gone by after lunch on Friday.
    Reply

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