Portuguese Easter Smoked Meats Bread • Folar de Carnes de Chaves

Yay a Easter Bread! If you’re looking to spice up your Easter table with a savory twist, how about this traditional Portuguese Easter Smoked Meats Bread, this version is known as Folar de Chaves, its a must-try. Hailing from the northern city of Chaves, this hearty bread is a cherished tradition during the holiday season. It’s so beloved that nearly every household in the region boasts its own unique variation of this recipe, passed down through generations.

Unlike its sweeter counterparts, Folar de Chaves is generously stuffed with a medley of smoked meats such as presunto (cured ham), chouriço, and sometimes linguiça (although i didn’t on this version). The rich, flavorful fillings are enveloped in a soft, egg-enriched rustic dough, resulting in a delectable combination that’s perfect for sharing with family and friends during Easter celebrations. Whether you’re continuing a family tradition or starting a new one, this savory bread is sure to become a easter holiday favorite, lets check the recipe!

Portuguese Easter Smoked Meats Bread • Folar de Carnes de Chaves

Servings: 12
Time: 2hr 30mins
Difficulty: Hard
Rating: ★★★★★
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Classic portuguese salty easter bread, it's an amazing traditional treat, filled with savoury smoked meats.

Ingredients

Flour – 1kg
Baker’s Yeast – 30gr Fresh (or 2 Sachets of Dried)
Water – 100ml
Olive Oil – 150ml
Lard – 50gr
Butter – 30gr (or margarine)
Eggs – 7 (room temperature)
Smoked Ham – 200 (Presunto)
Smoked Sausage – 150 (Chouriço)
Salt – A pinch

Directions

Start by adding 6 eggs to a bowl with the warm water and baker’s yeast, mix together.
In a small saucepan add the olive oil, lard, butter and a pinch of salt, bring to a simmer so that everything melts and becomes lukewarm.
Dump the flour onto a table or large baking tray, make a hole in the middle of the flour and pour in a little of the egg and olive oil mixture, start mixing everything together, gradually add more, mixing everything well, add more until everything is combined.

Knead until you have a ball of dough, sprinkle it with flour and put it in a bowl, cover it with a cloth and leave it in a warm place to rise for 2-3 hours until it has tripled in size.
Once the time has elapsed, put the dough back on the table and knead it a little more. Now separate the dough into 5 parts, knead it into 5 balls and leave them to rise for another 30 minutes.

While it’s rising, cut the smoked ham and chorizo into cubes and slices, you can see that i cut some chunkier and some finer, so it has different textures, then prepare a round tin and grease it with butter.

Now roll out one of the balls of dough and place it in the bottom of the tin, cover with the ham and chorizo, roll out another ball of dough again and place it on top, add another more ham and chorizo and repeat until you’ve finished with the dough on top (so about 1/3 of the ham and chorizo for each layer).
Now leave the dough to rise for another 30 minutes or so, while you’re at it switch on the oven and preheat it to 200ºC.

Brush the dough with the whisked egg and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until it’s golden brown, remove and it’s ready to serve hot or later on cold, store it in an airtight container, bon appetit and of course… Happy Easter!

Notes: If you can’t find these portuguese smoked meats you can use whatever smoked meats you have, won’t be the same, but it might still be good in its own way! Also try and get different ones so the bread will have different flavours and textures ;D

These type of enriched bread hold really well for about 2 or 3 days, just covered, but if you know you wont eat all in 3 days, just cut slices and freeze, and then unfreeze or toast to have a yummy smoked meat toast! ;D

This recipe for Portuguese Easter Smoked Meats Bread • Folar de Carnes de Chaves was originally created on BakeAfter.com. Esta receita de Folar de Carnes de Chaves foi publicada em português no Iguaria.com.