Tricolor Danube
- Difficulty: Difficult
- Prep time: 60 min
- Cook time: 30 min
- Serving: 10
- Cost: Average
- Note + the dough rising time (about 2 and a half hours)
PRESENTATION
The Danubio tricolore is like a culinary party straight from Campania, Italy. Seriously good. This Italian tricolor bread isn’t just tasty; it’s a feast for your eyes too. The colors? Just like the Italian flag. You've got green dough with basil, red with rich tomato paste, and classic white to keep things grounded. Each bread ball is soft and moist, packed with gooey provola cheese and savory prosciutto—ensuring every bite is a surprise. It’s pretty much perfect for any gathering, like a picnic or a kids’ birthday bash in Naples.
Thing is, the beauty of this Danubio tricolore recipe lies in its versatility. You can mix up the fillings, but the combo of melty cheese and salty cured meat is always a crowd-pleaser. Can't go wrong. Imagine pulling apart these tender bread balls with friends or family. And look, the dough has that golden, homemade charm, and the colors, from basil and tomato, give it a genuine Italian flair. It's a dish that just makes everyone reach for another piece, especially when the cheese is all stretchy and melty inside.
Parents love serving these stuffed bread rolls—easy to pack and not too messy. Ideal for picnics or lunchboxes. Some folks even mix it up with fillings like ricotta or cooked ham, which is great for endless creativity. Unlike the traditional sweet Danubio, this savory version is all about savory, satisfying flavors and fun colors. When you want something that tastes as good as it looks, a savory Danubio recipe like this is tough to beat. Perfect for anyone who loves festive bread that’s about sharing and creating memorable moments around the table. Whether it’s a casual family gathering or a lively picnic, this dish really brings people together in the best possible way. For real.
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INGREDIENTS
- Ingredients for the green dough
- Manitoba flour 1 ½ cup (180 g)
- Whole milk 0.3 cup (75 g) - at room temperature
- Basil 2 cups (50 g)
- Egg yolks 1 ⅓ tbsp (18 g) - (1 medium)
- Extra virgin olive oil 1 tbsp (15 g)
- Sugar 2 tsp (10 g)
- Fine salt ½ tsp (3 g)
- Brewer's yeast ¼ tsp (1 g)
- For the red dough
- Manitoba flour 1 ½ cup (180 g)
- Whole milk 0.3 cup (75 g) - at room temperature
- Triple concentrated tomato paste 3 tbsp (50 g)
- Egg yolks 5 oz (18 g) - (1 medium)
- Extra virgin olive oil 1 tbsp (15 g)
- Sugar 2 ½ tsp (10 g)
- Fine salt ½ tsp (3 g)
- Brewer's yeast ¼ tsp (1 g)
- For the white dough
- Manitoba flour 1 ½ cup (180 g)
- Whole milk 0.4 cup (85 g) - at room temperature
- Egg yolks 1 ¼ tbsp (18 g) - (1 medium)
- Sugar 0.8 tbsp (10 g)
- Fine salt ½ tsp (3 g)
- Brewer's yeast ¼ tsp (1 g)
- For filling the Danube
- Provola cheese 4.2 oz (120 g)
- Prosciutto cotto 4.2 oz (120 g)
- For brushing the pan and the Danube
- Egg whites 1
- Extra virgin olive oil ¾ tbsp (10 g)
For the green dough
To prepare the multicolor Danube, start by making the green dough. Pour the basil, milk 2, and oil 2 into a mixer container; then blend everything 3 until you obtain a smooth cream.
In another bowl, pour the flour, add the dry yeast 4, and the sugar 5. Then add the basil cream 6,
the yolk (weighing 18 g) 7, and start kneading by hand 8 until you get a homogeneous mixture 9.
Then transfer it to a work surface, add the salt 10, and knead for a few more minutes to absorb it well 11, then place the dough ball in a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap 12. Let it rise for about 2 hours, in the oven turned off, with just the light on, until it has doubled in size.
For the red dough
At this point, make the red dough: place the triple concentrated tomato paste in a small bowl, dilute it with room temperature milk 1, and add both the yolk (weighing 18 g) 2 and the olive oil 3. Mix everything until you get a uniform mixture.
In another bowl, pour the flour, the dry yeast 4, the sugar, and the tomato mixture 5. Start kneading everything by hand, and only when you have obtained a uniform dough, add the salt 6 and continue working to absorb it.
At this point, transfer the dough to a work surface 7, knead it for a few more minutes, then shape it into a sphere 8 as you did previously with the green dough. Place it in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap 9, and let it rise in the oven turned off with just the light on, along with the other dough, for about 2 hours or until it has doubled in size.
For the white dough
Now, make the final dough, the white one. Pour the flour into a bowl, add the dry yeast, the sugar 1, the yolk weighing 18 g (set aside the egg white which will be used later to brush the Danube) 2, and room temperature milk 3. Knead everything by hand until you obtain a uniform mixture,
then add the salt 4, continue working for a few minutes on a work surface 5, and after shaping it into a sphere, place it in a bowl 6, cover with plastic wrap, and put it in the oven turned off with just the light on along with the other 2 doughs for a couple of hours, until it has doubled in size.
Composition of the tricolor Danube and baking
Once all 3 doughs have risen 1, prepare the filling: finely chop both the cooked ham 2 and the provola cheese 3 and set aside.
Take the doughs and work each one to shape it into a loaf; you can start with the white one 4. Divide the loaf into 10 pieces, each weighing approximately 1 oz 5. Using a rolling pin 6, flatten and obtain a disk from each portion
and fill with some cubes of provola cheese and ham 7. Then close, pinching the edges of the dough 8, and form a ball by shaping it on a work surface, rotating with your fingers to give it a spherical shape 9. Continue until you finish the white dough,
then perform the same operations for the red dough and fill each disk 10 before forming the balls; then proceed with the green dough, always forming the loaf first, then the 1 oz pieces, the disks to fill 11, and close forming spheres. Once you have finished all the doughs and formed all the balls 12
grease a 10-inch mold 13 with the help of a kitchen brush. Place the balls inside, starting from the edge, alternating the colors 14; once you have filled the pan 15, let rise for another 30 minutes, always in the oven turned off with just the light on, covering with plastic wrap.
After the indicated time, take the Danube and preheat the static oven to 340°F. While the oven is heating, brush the tricolor Danube with a lightly beaten egg white 16 and bake at 340°F for 30 minutes. Once baked 17, let the tricolor Danube cool slightly before unmolding and serving it 18.