Quick cheesy bread - a family recipe
Many years ago, Marcello, my father-in-law, travelled to the Marche region with his family to spend Easter with his aunt. He was 8 at the time but was allowed to drink wine (it was a celebration, after all), and instead of tinkering with smartphones as we do now, he remembers playing calcetto (table football) for hours on end. This simple, cheesy "focaccia" bread called crescia was a staple on every family's Easter table, he recalls.
Recently, Marcello tried to bring an old memory to life by experimenting with a few recipes. What you see below is what he ended up with. Easy, quick, foolproof— a thick and spongy no-knead bread that comes with loads of character (and parmesan cheese).
CRESCIA
Quick cheesy focaccia bread from the Marche region.
- no knead
- 4 hours rising + 1 hour baking
*Ingredients
- 80g lukewarm water
- 25g fresh yeast (or one sachet of dried yeast)
- 1 teaspoon sugar or honey
- 450g plain flour (all purpose)
- 4 eggs (about 200g)
- 100g grated Parmesan
- 100g grated Pecorino
- (or 200 gr Parmesan / gouda / cheddar)
- 25g evo oil
- 6g salt
- A few black peppercorns
- Optionally, add small pieces of cheese to the dough
*Method
Dissolve the yeast in water and sugar.
Mix all the remaining ingredients together and let rise in the oven with the light on for about 4 hours.
Tip into a baking pan with a diameter of 18-20 cm and about 10 cm tall. The dough will double in size or more.
Preheat the oven to 180°C and bake for about an hour, covering with foil for the last 15 minutes to prevent it from browning too much. Do the toothpick test to check for doneness.
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| Marcello and baby Francesca, November 2024, Venice |
Happy baking!
Sinù xx
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