CASATIELLO

Steps:

• To make the sponge, stir together the flour and yeast in a bowl. Whisk in the milk to make a pancakelike batter. Cover with plastic wrap and ferment at room temperature for 1 hour. The sponge will foam and bubble and should collapse when you tap the bowl.
• While the sponge is fermenting, dice the salami into small cubes and sauté it lightly in a frying pan to crisp it slightly. (Or, cook and crumble the bacon or sauté fresh sausage or salami substitutes until crisp, saving the rendered fat.)
• To make the dough, in a mixing bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer), stir together the flour, salt, and sugar with a spoon. Add the eggs and the sponge and mix together (or mix with a paddle attachment on low speed) until all the ingredients form a coarse ball. If there is any loose flour, dribble in a small amount of water or milk to gather it into the dough. Stir (or mix) for about 1 minute, then let the dough rest for 10 minutes to allow the gluten to develop. Divide the butter into 4 pieces. Begin working the butter into the dough, one piece at a time, stirring vigorously with the spoon (or mixing on medium speed). The dough will be soft but not a batter. Continue mixing with the spoon, or switch to your hands but keep them floured as you knead, working the dough into a smooth, tacky mass. It will take about 12 minutes. (In the electric mixer, scrape down the bowl with a plastic bowl scraper or rubber spatula and then switch to the dough hook after 4 minutes. The dough will change from sticky to tacky and eventually come off the sides of the bowl. If not, sprinkle in more flour until the dough forms a ball and clears the sides of the bowl.)
• When the dough is smooth, add the meat pieces and knead (or mix) until they are evenly distributed. Then gently knead (or mix) in the cheese until it too is evenly distributed. The dough will be soft and stretchy, very tacky but not sticky. If it is sticky, sprinkle in more flour until it firms up. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
• Ferment at room temperature for about 90 minutes, or until the dough increases in size by at least 1 1/2 times.
• Remove the dough from the bowl and leave as 1 piece for 1 large loaf or divide into 2 pieces for smaller loaves. The loaves may be baked in white or brown sandwich-sized paper bags set in metal cans just large enough to hold them, such as a no. 10 can or a coffee can. Or they may be baked in 1 large or 2 small loaf pans. (You may also use paper or metal pannetone molds, available at specialty cookware stores, or an 8-inch cake pan, as shown in the recipe image.) If you are baking in bags, generously spray the inside of 1 or 2 small brown or white sandwich- or lunch-sized paper bags with spray oil. Lightly dust your hands and the dough with flour and shape the dough (or dough pieces) into a boule as shown on page 72. Place a ball of dough in the prepared bag, and roll the top of the bag back to make a collar about 2 inches above the top of the dough. Place the bag in a metal can just large enough to hold it. If you are baking in pans, mist one 9 by 5-inch or two 8 1/2 by 4 1/2-inch pans with spray oil. Lightly dust your hands and the dough with flour and shape the dough into 1 or 2 loaves, and place in the pans. Mist the top of the dough with spray oil and loosely cover the bags or pans with plastic wrap or a towel.
• Proof for 60 or 90 minutes, or until the dough just reaches to the top of the bags or just crests to the top of the pans.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F, setting the oven rack in the lower third of the oven.
• Place the cans or pans with the dough in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, then rotate the pans 180 degrees. If you are baking in cans, reduce the oven temperature to 325°F (do not reduce the oven setting if you are baking in regular bread pans). Bake for an additional 20 to 30 minutes for bread pans or about 40 minutes for cans, or until the center of the loaves registers 185° to 190°F. The dough will be golden brown on top and on the sides, and the cheese will ooze out into crisp little brown pockets. The bread will rise to just above the top of the bags.
• When the bread is done, remove it from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack. If you are baking in bread pans, remove the bread from the pans; if you are baking in bags, remove the bags from the cans and either remove the bread from the bags or cut slits in the bags to allow the stream to escape. Let the bread cool for at least 1 hour before slicing or serving.
• Rich, standard dough; indirect method; commercial yeast
• 1 hour sponge; 12 minutes mixing; 3 hours fermentation, shaping, and proofing; 30 to 60 minutes baking
• Other types of cheese can be substituted for the provolone, but the cheese should be a good "melter" with distinctive flavor of its own, such as Swiss, Gouda, or Cheddar or their infinite cousins. I rarely use mozzarella or Jack because they are some-what bland, or Parmesan or other hard cheeses because they are too salty and do not melt into a creamy pocket. However, if that is what I have on hand, blending mozzarella or Jack with a grated hard cheese brings the melting and flavor perks of each together into an excellent substitute.
• This is a fast sponge and the entire bread can be made in about 5 hours from start to finish. The dough can also be made a day ahead, and then shaped and baked the following day, like brioche, but you must chill it as soon as it comes off the mixer to avoid overfermenting.
• The formula calls for whole milk, but I often substitute buttermilk because I like the slightly acidic flavor.
• The meat may be any flavorful substitute that you have on hand or prefer. Italian salami and pepperoni are ideal because the flavor intensifies as they cook, and little bits go a long way, especially if they are lightly sautéed before they are added to the dough. Cooked and crumbled bacon and pancetta are also superb in this bread, and the rendered fat can be added to the dough as a substitute for an equal part of the butter for even more flavor intensity. Other substitutes include crisped chorizo, Italian sausage, or other crisped fresh sausage; fresh all-beef salami (diced and then cooked until slightly crisp); imitation bacon bits (soy); or firm smoked tofu cut into bits.
• You can cut the butter in half if you prefer, but you may have to increase the milk slightly to achieve the proper consistency.
• Casatiello %
• (SPONGE)
• Bread flour: 12.3%
• Instant yeast: 1.8%
• Milk: 43.8%
• (DOUGH)
• Meat: 21.9%
• Bread flour: 87.7%
• Salt: 1.4%
• Sugar: 2.7%
• Eggs: 18.1%
• Butter: 32.9%
• Cheese: 21.9%
• Total: 244.5%