Casatiello

Method

1. 1 Knead the flour with yeast, water, and lard for 15 minutes, then let it rise for 2 hours until it doubles in size.
2. 2 Roll the dough into long sheets and sprinkle with salami, provolone, Pecorino, and plenty of black pepper.
3. 3 A large amount of pepper is characteristic of casatiello; a reduced amount of pepper results in a bland cake that is mostly fat.
4. 4 Roll the dough into a long tube, then loop it into a ring shape within a round mold.
5. 5 Press four whole eggs (with their shells on) onto the surface of the dough, then insert two strips of dough in a cross shape to hold the eggs in place.
6. 6 Let it rest for another 2 hours, then bake at 180 degrees for 50 minutes and let it cool completely before cutting.

With an appliance

• Air fryer 1 hr 20 min

  Replace the baking step in step 6: spray oil on the surface of the dough rings, use a 195°C steam oven for 33 minutes and rotate the mold after 17 minutes; the casatiello crust darkens quickly, large cakes must be divided into two smaller rings.