Preparation / Directions:
Make a cone of flour on the pastry board with a cavity on the top. Dissolve the yeast in a few tablespoons of lukewarm water, pour into the cavity, add a pinch of salt, the butter at room temperature, the eggs and half of the ciccioli coarsely chopped.
Knead the ingredients together until the dough is no longer sticky, adding more flour if necessary. Butter an 8" cake pan with high edges, stretch out the dough until it covers the bottom and the sides, then sprinkle with the remaining ciccioli. Cover and set in a warm place until risen. Cook in a preheated oven at 400 F. for half an hour.
Ciccioli are the solid particles which remain when one melts lard or bacon which have been pressed through a potato ricer to remove excess fat. When melting, lard or bacon should always be chopped.
NOTE: What is commonly used for this bread is salt pork cut in small cubes. After all the fat is rendered, remove the browned bits to paper towels and drain before adding to the recipe. It is surprisingly tasty. In our area, a loaf of this bread costs $4 to $5 a loaf.
Here are some interesting recipes from the Sons of Italy cookbook. These are family recipes and the name of kind person who shared them appears at the bottom of the recipe, in most cases.
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