Traditional Portuguese Smoked Ham and Cheese Bread

Who doesn’t love a beautiful meat-filled bread? The wonderful thing about this recipe is that we use 3 different types of deli ham for the filling, along with a generous amount of Portuguese flamengo cheese, it turns out absolutely fantastic and so fluffy! This Portuguese creation is similar to the traditional “bolas de carne” and “folar de carne” that have graced Portuguese tables for generations, but with a delicious twist, using various types of cured ham instead of chorizo or other smoked meats.

The deli hams I used were: Oven-Roasted Chicken Breast Ham, Extra Leg Ham, and Honey-Crusted Ham. This combination creates layers of flavour that make every bite a delightful surprise. What makes this recipe particularly special is how perfectly it fits our December 1st celebration of Portugal’s Restoration of Independence, with bread that brings together the best of Portuguese tradition with the abundance and variety that independence has brought to our tables… get it! hehehe I know! Let’s check the recipe!

Portuguese Smoked Ham and Cheese Bread

Servings: 8
Time: 1hr 30mins
Difficulty: Normal
Rating: ★★★★★
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Try at home this delightfull portuguese style ham and cheese stuffed bread, perfect for a starter or a picknic.

Ingredients

Flour – 600g (T55)
Salt – 7g
Sugar – 40g
Yeast – 25g
Water – 100ml
Butter – 125g
Eggs – 4
Olive Oil – 75ml
Ham – 400g (3 Different Kinds)
Flamengo Cheese – 150g
Flour – For Dusting
Egg – For Brushing

Directions

In a bowl, mix the warm water with the sugar and dissolved yeast. Mix well to dissolve the yeast completely. Cover with cling film or place the bowl inside a bag. Leave to rise while mixing the rest of the ingredients separately.

Knead the flour with the salt, butter, and eggs. Add the olive oil.

Add the dissolved yeast and knead some more. Place the dough on a floured surface and knead until it is elastic, shiny, and smooth.
Leave the dough to rise in a floured bowl covered with a cloth, for at least 1 to 2 hours, until it has doubled in size.

When risen, place it back on a floured surface and knead. Then roll it out into a rectangle with a rolling pin.

Place 2/3 of the mixed hams sliced thinly and half the cheese in the center of the rectangle.

Then fold one end over the ham to cover it. Place the remaining ham on top of this portion of dough with the remaining cheese.

Close with the other fold or the dough.
Cover it and leave to rise again for at least 1 hour.
After 1 hour, preheat the oven to 200ºC.

Prick the surface of the bread dough and brush with the whisked egg. Bake on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper for about 25 minutes or until golden brown and your house is filled with a delicious aroma of baked bread. And it’s ready to serve! Enjoy!

Notes: Please note that I used 3 different types of Hams, the problem is that my aunt wrote the recipe with the total amount of the hams and not what was and how much of each ham, so I’m not sure, I know one was a plain ham, the other a pepper covered ham and maybe the third was a smoked ham, so I say use 3 different types of ham that you enjoy and think that mix well, there is a lot to choose from and doesn’t need to be all pork.

Also, she used Portuguese flamengo cheese, but you can use any kind of mild cheese, gouda cheese or a plain cheddar cheese will be fine.

This bread is best eaten fresh but can be wrapped and stored for 2-3 days. Reheat gently in a low oven to restore crustiness.

Finally, not that this bread uses cake flour so it’s more like a folar type of soft bread almost cake… right, that is the texture, not so much bread…

This recipe for Portuguese Smoked Ham and Cheese Bread was originally created on BakeAfter.com. Esta receita de Bola de Fiambres foi publicada em português no Iguaria.com.