Tortano with cheddar, salami and pesto
I hadn’t even heard of a tortano until very recently when I got myself the beautiful book by Leila Lindholm One More Slice
Adding the filling
The tortano comes from the area around Napels and is shaped in a ring. Apparently it looks a bit like a tart, hence the name tortano. Like a pie you also cut it into similar pieces. Leila tells us that originally the bread is stuffed with boiled eggs but you can ofcourse add anything to the filling. Leila gives 9 examples of fillings but I chose to do another one, with the things I had on hand. I added some herbs into the dough itself and then filled it with the homemade pesto I had made earlier in the week, some leftover salami and a rich cheddar.
Ready for final rise and the oven
It didn’t start out so well, as I had made the dough in the Kitchen aid but it stayed incredibly sticky. I did a little bit of kneading by hand but – lazy person that I am – decided to just risk it and put it in a bowl to rise. Ofcourse it didn’t rise at all and just looked like a pile of blah at the bottom of the bowl after 40 minutes. I heaved a big sigh, took it out of the bowl and started kneading away. The time it had sat in the bowl did make it a bit less sticky so once I was done kneading it was a pretty nice and smooth dough. I just should have done it an hour earlier but hey, I still did it! I then let it rise again for 45 minutes and while it was supposed to double in size, I think it didn’t exactly do that but it looked good and so I proceeded to the next step.
You don’t roll out this dough as that takes out too much of the air but you shape it with your hands in a large rectangle of about 1 cm thick. You then put all your fillings on it and roll the thing up. It becomes quite heavy so have your baking tray close by! Put some baking paper underneath as there will be some cheese running out of the bread so you don’t want to big of a mess in your oven.
Once I took it out after 30 minutes it smelled totally amazing! And looked pretty good too, making me double glad that I took the time to knead the dough again. You see, I am learning! This is the 3rd (?) or so successful breadbaking I have done in a row! Whoohoo! Yay me… And I have to say, the more I bake bread, the more I love it. And consider I bought myself a couple of kilo’s of flour from I better like it a lot! For some reason I also bought 2 kilo of rye flour and I seriously have no idea why I did that. I will use it but nothing springs to mind immediately… I must have bought it with something in mind though.
We had this bread for dinner not an hour later with the leftovers from our tapas night earlier that week. Not that it needs anything. You can eat the bread without anything on it and it is totally delicious. And I am so gonna make this again with other fillings. Heck, I might even try the egg version at some point! Love it!
And yes, even my non cheese liking Tom loved the bread. He had plenty of it!
Tortano with cheddar, salami and pesto
Yield: 1 bread
Ingredients:
- 7 gr instant yeast or 15 gr fresh yeast
- 300 ml lukewarm water
- 2 tbsp of olive oil
- 1 tbsp of honey
- 1,5 tbsp of salt
- 175 gr durum flour or tipo 00 flour
- 275 gr all purpose flour
- couple of tablespoons of pesto
- 100 gr salami
- 75 gr grated cheddar
Directions:
- Crumble your fresh yeast in a bowl or sprinkle your dried yeast into the bowl. Add the water and stir. Add the olive oil, honey and salt.
- While turning your machine add the two types of flour to the bowl and knead until you have an elastic dough. Take about 10 minutes.
- Put some olive oil in a large bowl and rub it on the sides. Put your dough inside. Cover with plastic wrap and a clean teatowel en leave to rise for about 40 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.
- Push your dough (don't roll it as that will lose too much of the air) till you have a rectangular shape of about 1 cm thickness.
- Cover the dough with your filling of choice. In this case spread the pesto over the dough, leaving the sides open, cover that with the salami and end by spreading the cheddar over the bread.
- Brush some water on the sides of the bread and rol it to a thick sausage. Bend the ends together and stick them together using water.
- Preheat the oven to 250 C.
- Put your tortano on a baking plate covered with baking paper. Sprinkle a little flour on top, cover with a clean teatowel and leave to rise for another 30 minutes.
- Put your bread in the oven and lower the temperature to 200 C. Bake the bread for about 30-35 minutes and leave to cool on a roster.
Recipe adapted from One more slice by Leila Lindholm
Gizmo checking it out!
I have baked this bread for the wonderful bread baking event invented by Jamie from Life s a Feast, Cake Duchess and Creative Culinary. The theme for this month is bread with cheese! You can still enter as this month’s theme runs until the end of the month. And let’s face it; who doesn’t like a lovely cheesy bread?
Appetizer
Asian
Bread
Breakfast
Desserts & other sweets
Healthy
Gorgeous! That stuffing is so tasty.
Cheers,
Rosa
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Simone (junglefrog) — September 17th, 2012 at 09:52
Thanks Rosa! It is irresistible. It was gone in minutes almost!
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This is irresistible!!!!
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Simone (junglefrog) — September 17th, 2012 at 09:52
Thanks so much Cherine!
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When I saw Lisa Michelle’s I decided to do this. And I did – for the cheesepalooza fieldtrip to Smoky Valley – but no time for pics – and the inside turned out nothing like hers and I couldn’t bake it for an hour…. that just seemed too long. Your crust looks INCREDIBLE!!!! I see in one photo that you also had a little spillage, like me. I didn’t expect that as it was sealed so tightly. Gorgeous. I hope I haven’t missed the date for Jamie’s event.
V
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Simone (junglefrog) — September 16th, 2012 at 23:15
O yes and I think the crust on this baby was one of the best things of the entire bread… Yes it did spill a little but I had expected that too happen as in the book I got it from all of the breads had a little bit of cheese spilled out. And you’re still in time Valerie! I think the deadline is end of the month!
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I’ve had a tortano before, but I didn’t realize that was its name (I got it at an Italian deli years ago, and just pointed at what I wanted). Really nice recipe – I love the flavors. Gizmo reminds me of our cat, Max – he’ll investigate anything!
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Simone (junglefrog) — September 17th, 2012 at 09:53
I would have known the name of this either and I probably had seen it at some point somewhere before.. And yes Gizmo is very inquisitive… as long as there is food involved she will put her nose in it if we let her!
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Beautiful recipe and fabulous looking CRUST! I think you are already a pro at making bread and I am sure you will come up with another tasty recipe with the rye flour! Wish that was my hand in the photograph!
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Simone (junglefrog) — September 17th, 2012 at 09:55
O thanks so much. Not sure if you would consider myself to be a pro (noooooo!) but I am learning with every bread I bake (that almost sounds like every breath I take..lol) I have already gotten some ideas for the rye flour!
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First time I hear about it also. It looks like a typical italian stuffed bread
.
Beautiful photos also specially the first one
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Simone (junglefrog) — September 17th, 2012 at 09:57
I loved your bread too! And I discovered another breadbaking event… Not that I would have time for another one but it always helps to learn more…!
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What a gorgeous dish! I’ve never had a tortano before but I definitely want to give it a try! You have all of my favorite ingredients in this!
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Simone (junglefrog) — September 17th, 2012 at 09:51
Thanks so much!
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Have never met anything quite like this in my travels or books [I must have cookery books strewn in every room of my home
!] – being definitely a savoury gal this does appeal and tho’ I’m no baker may well give it a try! As you say, once the method is clear imagination can suggest heaps of flavour combinations 
!
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Simone (junglefrog) — September 17th, 2012 at 09:50
I so know that feeling of the cookbooks being anywhere. I was looking for one the other day and having searched the entire house I came to the conclusion that they were literally in every single room of the house, with the exception of the bathroom!
I will definitely be making this bread again with different flavors. I can even see a nice sweet one in the foreseeable future!
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Beautiful photos! Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe – I have never come across tortano in my travels before. I’d love to make one soon – perfect dish for a Sydney springtime!!!
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Simone (junglefrog) — September 17th, 2012 at 09:49
Thanks so much and well it would be perfect for any season really. That’s what I love about this bread… You can easily fill it with whatever you want!
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Yoooom! I love this bread idea Simone. My fav photo is the one of the hand taking the food..
That happens a lot around here when we are trying to shoot something!
Will show this to the Chef and see what he thinks ….
xx
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Simone (junglefrog) — September 17th, 2012 at 09:48
Haha… yes the impatience of those waiting for the food to be allowed to eat!
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Gizmo – with all the smelling he gets to do for your own photo ops, I hope that at least he gets to taste! What a beautiful bread, Simone! I love it! Perfect swirl I must say and I love your fillings. What is great about filled breads like this is really being able to fill them with anything you love best or anything you just happen to have on hand. I have to try this. I love the idea of serving this as part of a tapas party. Love having you bake with us for Twelve Loaves!
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Simone (junglefrog) — September 17th, 2012 at 09:47
O she gets her fair share of tasting too Jamie, don’t worry. She is spoiled rotten! And I am loving the 12loaves too. Can’t wait to see what we need to make next month!
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Oh yes .. how I wish that was my hand helping myself to a slice! This looks so so so gooey and divine. Love it. What a great way to celebrate 12 Loaves!
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Simone (junglefrog) — September 17th, 2012 at 09:54
Thanks so much Meeta! Ha yes that was Tom diving in an getting his share… It was hard to wait as it smelled so delicious!
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What a great party dish. That would be dangerous for me to have around. BTW, Simone, I did an all white photo. I’m going to post it sometime today. I hope you like it. White is not easy! I hope you continue to propose challenges like this because we can still use our own creativity.
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Simone (junglefrog) — September 17th, 2012 at 20:05
Thanks so much for joining in Angela! Saw your gorgeous coconut cake… Looks delicious too. And this bread is indeed a perfect dish for entertaining!
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Tortano is all I want for lunch and for dinner tonight. I want yours! Is it possible, maybe? This looks so fabulous, Simone. The crust is gorgeous and the fillings is fantastic. So thrilled you baked with us and Twelve Loaves again. You bring such inspiration to our challenge:)xx
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Wow…this looks fantastic; I had thought of doing a second bread and of course thought focaccia but I do love this. Thanks for joining this month’s challenge…you did good. Real good.
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And suddenly my salad lunch pales in comparison
this looks SO great! Perfect picnic food. I want one 
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I really love stuffed round breads like this spectacularly looking one!
I also love, love the stuffed ingredients! georgous pictures too, dear Simone!
MMMMMMMMMMM,..Another must make!
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This looks so delicious and fun to eat! I had never heard of a tortano before, either, but I definitely want a slice!
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This looks like the perfect recipe for a party. The only problem is it would probably be gone in about 5 minutes.
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