Gourmet panettone

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PRESENTATION

The unmissable star of Christmas spreads, gourmet panettone is the savory version of the traditional eponymous dessert, earning its place at the table as a traditional starter. The base dough is the same as for classic panettone, but without the addition of candied fruit and sultan raisins, resulting in a more neutral flavor. Once baked, the panettone is cut into discs, to make lots of soft layers ready to be filled, just like sandwiches. The filling is the personal touch that characterizes this preparation: sauces, salamis, salmon, cheeses and many other delicious ingredients to your taste, they will all make perfect fillings for your very own panettone. Alternate fillings to make different flavored layers, so that each time you cut the panettone into slices, each diner will be able to enjoy all the flavors in one go. Enrich the festive table with a rich and delicious starter that will whet the appetite of guests young and old. And, to really get your table into the festive spirit, you could even try making a beautiful bread wreathe!

INGREDIENTS

Ingredients for the starter dough
Manitoba flour 1 cup (150 g)
Whole milk ½ cup (100 g)
Brewer's yeast ½ tsp (2 g)
For the dough
Flour 0 3 cups (400 g)
Whole milk ½ cup (120 g)
Butter 1 stick (80 g)
Sugar 3 tbsp (40 g)
Eggs 1 - (1 medium)
Egg yolks 1 - (of a medium egg)
Brewer's yeast ½ tsp (2 g)
Fine salt 1 tsp (8 g)
Malt 1 tsp (2 g)
For the salmon stuffing
Cream cheese ½ cup (100 g)
Fresh liquid cream 2 tsp (10 g)
Fine salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
Chives 2 tbsp (15 g)
Smoked Salmon 2 oz (80 g)
For the asparagus stuffing
Asparagus 5 oz (150 g)
Robiola cheese 3 oz (100 g)
Fine salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
For the goat cheese filling
Goat 5 oz (160 g)
Tomato paste 1 tbsp (10 g)
Fresh liquid cream 1 tbsp (20 g)
Radicchio 1 oz (40 g)
Prosciutto cotto 3 oz (100 g)
Black pepper to taste
Fine salt to taste
For the shrimp filling
Shrimps 6 oz (170 g)
Chives 2 tsp (5 g)
Cocktail sauce 5 tbsp (80 g)

Preparing the dough

To make panettone start with the dough: place the sieved manitoba flour in a planetary mixer 1, along with the milk 2; add the brewers yeast 3 and start to mix, to obtain a coarse dough that isn't too smooth.

Cover the dough with plastic wrap 4. Leave the biga dough to rest in the refrigerator overnight (12 hours). The next morning, place the biga dough in the planetary mixer bowl with a hook. Add another 0.5 tsp of yeast 5, 0.5 cup of milk 6,

the malt 7, the sugar 8 and the sieved flour 0 9.

Mix briefly, then add the egg 10 and salt. Continue mixing with the hook to obtain a smooth and elastic dough. Now add the slightly softened butter, one piece at a time 11, wait until the previous piece is absorbed before adding another. Wait to obtain a glossy and elastic dough that wraps around the hook 12.

Dab some butter onto a bowl with a brush 13 and place the dough inside, shaping it into a ball 14. Cover with plastic wrap 15 and leaven inside the switched off oven, with the lights on, for around 4 hours.

Place the dough on a pastry board lightly sprinkled with flour 16 and spread it by pulling out the corners 17. Fold it 3 ways (18-19)

and pull the short sides to lengthen it 20. Start rolling the dough 21,

pressing down on the closure with your thumbs, gradually bringing the outer corners towards the middle 22. Place the resulting ball in a 2.2 lb panettone mold 23. Leaven for around 4 hours in the switched off oven with the lights on, until the dough rises up to the edge. Brush the surface with the egg white 24 and place in a static oven preheated to 338°F (170°C) for around 45 minutes (or in a ventilated oven at 302°F (150°C) for 35 minutes). In the lowest shelf of the oven. Check that it's done using the toothpick test, be sure to insert it right into the middle, and remove from the oven if the pick emerges dry.

Once baked, remove the panettone from the oven and skewer it towards the bottom using a special pin 25 (or knitting needles, or steel skewers) and leave it to cool upside down, weighing down both ends 26, without touching the cap (to maintain the dome shape and prevent it from deflating). The panettone is ready 27; before filling it, leave it in the refrigerator so that it becomes firmer.

Preparing the filling

Prepare the panettone fillings starting from the shrimp stuffing: finely chop the chives 1, peel the shrimps 2 and boil them in abundant salted water 3 for 2-3 minutes.

Drain and place them in a bowl with the cocktail sauce 4, add the chives 5 and stir to flavor the shrimps 6, store the shrimp cocktail in the refrigerator.

Melt the spreadable cheese in the milk 7, flavor with the finely chopped chives 8 and stir to mix the ingredients together 9; leave in the refrigerator as it will accompany the salmon.

Prepare the goat cheese: place the cheese in a bowl with the milk, add the tomato paste 10, salt and pepper 11, then stir to amalgamate the sauce; leave in the refrigerator. Lastly, prepare the asparagus stuffing: wash the asparagus and remove the toughest and stringiest green part using a potato peeler 12.

Cut the tips off and leave them whole, cut the rest of the stalks into small pieces 13. Blanche the tips for a couple of minutes 14 to soften; drain and cut them in half lengthwise 15.

Blanche the rest of the asparagus separately for longer: it will take around 5 minutes 16, Drain and place in a mixer, add the robiola cheese 17, salt and pepper, stir to amalgamate the cream 18, place back in the refrigerator with the other condiments.

Wash and cut the radicchio into strips 19, then take the panettone and cut it horizontally to obtain 8 discs that are the same thickness, and the cap (20-21).

Everything is ready to put your gourmet panettone together: use the first discs as a base, spread the chive cream over it 22 and arrange the smoked salmon slices onto it 23. Add two discs of panettone 24

filled with the asparagus cream and arrange the asparagus tips over the surface 25; continue by adding two more discs 26, filled with the tomato cream 27,

the radicchio 28 and the slices of prosciutto cotto 29, followed by another two discs 30;

end with the shrimp cocktail 31 and close with another disc and the cap 32. Your gourmet panettone is ready to be enjoyed!

Interesting facts

Many people prepare gourmet panettone with a single filling; we have tried to mix wedges so that each layer contains several fillings, and the result was truly magnificent!

Tips

The secret to success for this recipe is to play ahead: prepare the panettone and fillings the day before so that it will be easier to cut it, and the fillings will be firmer and more spreadable. If you really want to go overboard, do everything two days earlier, so that the finished panettone will have at least 12 hours to settle and become compact in the refrigerator.

If you use baking powder, consider the proportion: one part of brewers yeast corresponds to 3 parts of cake yeast.

Storage

Store gourmet panettone in the refrigerator for a couple of days. You can make panettone a few days ahead and store it without any filling in a bag, protected from air.