Traditional Italian Cheese Bread Recipe - Crescia

This easy Italian cheese bread recipe is a traditional delicacy from Marche and Umbria called Crescia di Pasqua or Pizza di Pasqua. A family favorite usually baked for Easter breakfast or Easter Monday picnic. It is a savory, cheesy bread with a soft, fluffy structure and is packed with Pecorino Romano cheese and Parmesan cheese. Sometimes bacon or sausages are also added to the dough and it is eaten in slices with salami and boiled egg. Either way, it is good all year round!

This homemade Italian cheese bread has a crunchy golden brown crust and a soft inside with a deliciously cheesy and slightly spicy taste from the Parmesan and the Pecorino. The dough is made with butter, olive oil and eggs, which give it a fluffy structure. It is a cheesy Italian bread with crispy edges but does not have a gooey melted cheese.

If you want to add some extra cheese, you can also add to the dough small cubes of fresh pecorino or pieces of bacon or sausages. A pleasant surprise to each bite.

One slice is already very filling, but it is so good you have to get a second one.

For more easy Italian bread recipes, you can check the recipes: Italian flat bread piadina, stuffed spinach bread recipe or Italian dinner rolls Panini al Latte

Ingredients

This bread is made with simple ingredients:

• Flour: the best flour for bread is All purpose flour (USA), plain flour (UK), flour 55 (France), and Type 0 (Italy)
• Butter: butter can be melted, but it shouldn't be added to the mixture when it is still hot otherwise, its heat will cook the eggs.
• Olive oil: good quality olive oil; it is not necessary to be extra virgin
• Fresh egg: it is an Easter bread, and it has a lot of eggs. I have my own chickens and therefore fresh eggs every day
• Yeast for bread: I prefer the dry yeast as the fresh yeast tends to deteriorate easily, and if it does, the dough will not rise. Dry yeast is sealed in small packages and can be stored in the cupboard.
• Parmesan and Pecorino cheese: I recommend using the two kinds of cheese. Parmigiano Reggiano is more delicate as it is made with cow's milk. The Pecorino instead has a stronger, almost spicy flavor, and it is made with goat cheese. If you prefer, you can choose only one of them, but their combination makes a perfectly balanced taste.
• Salt and black pepper

See recipe card for measurements.

Instructions

It is very easy to make, and you can either make it with a bread machine or a mixer.

• Using a bread machine: If you use a bread machine, you just pour the wet ingredients in first, then the dry ingredients. Add the cheese only when the machine has finished the first kneading. It usually rings when it does.
• Using a mixer: The recipe calls for fresh yeast, so if you make the cheese bread with a mixer, you need to make sure the yeast is activated.

You can prepare it the night before and bake it fresh in the morning.

Activating the Yeast

Whether you use fresh or dry yeast, you must melt it with lukewarm water in a small bowl and then set it aside until it forms a foam.

Preparing the wet ingredients

1. Mix the yeast with the lukewarm water, put it aside, and let it rest
2. Melt the butter in the microwave for 1 minute at medium heat or in a pan and let it cool down
3. Add the oil and the eggs to the melted butter and mix
4. Add the yeast, stir and set aside

Prepare the dry ingredients

5. Mix the flour with salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl

Putting the wet and dry ingredients together

7. In a mixer with a dough hook attachment, stir the wet and dry ingredients together
8. making sure there are no lumps in the flour
9. Add the Parmesan, and the Pecorino and stir
10. Cover the large bowl with a cloth and let it rest for 30 minutes in a warm place

Bake it

11. Cover the bottom of a baking pan with parchment paper; best if it has a removable bottom. Butter the side of the pan
12. Pour the dough into the pan, cover it with a cloth, and let it rest for another 30 minutes
13. Bake in a hot oven at 320 F -160 C for 1 hour
14. Once done, let it rest for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan

How to serve it

This cheese bread can be served freshly baked or at room temperature the next day. If you want it warm, it is great toasted.

It is perfect for a picnic, a brunch, or a standing buffet party as it is easy to eat with your hand. It is usually served with a boiled egg and some slices of salami.

That is why it is often baked for an Easter brunch or for an Easter Monday picnic. It is the perfect side dish with any Easter dinner leftovers.

More Italian Easter recipes

If you want to try other traditional Easter bake, you can check out the Italian recipes:

• Italian Easter cookies - Cuzzupe Cudduraci
• Pastiera Napoletana - Wheat ricotta Easter pie

Other recipes for an Easter picnic

If you are planning to make this bread for a picnic or a brunch/lunch buffet, here are some other recipes you may want to include in your menu:

• Beef sausage hand pies
• Heidi pie
• Brioche Sausage roll
• Cheese gougere bourguignonne
• Broad beans minestra
• Wild asparagus flans
• Rissole a la Dauphine

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📋Traditional Italian Cheese Bread - Crescia

This Italian cheese bread is a traditional delicacy from Marche and Umbria called Crescia di Pasqua, usually baked for the Easter breakfast or Monday picnic. It is a savory Easter bread with a soft, fluffy structure and packed with Pecorino and Parmesan cheese. Sometimes bacon or sausages are also added to the dough and it is eaten in slices with salami and boiled egg. Either way, it is good all year round!

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Resting time 1 hour hour

Servings: 8 people

Print Rate SaveSaved!

Author: Laura Tobin

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

0.5x1x2x3x

Wet Ingredients

• ⅔ cup fresh water
• 2 tablespoon yeast
• ½ cup butter
• 1 cup olive oil
• 6 fresh eggs

Dry ingredients

• 4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 pinch pepper

Cheese

• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• ½ cup pecorino

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Equipment

• KitchenAid Mixer
• Bread machine
• Measuring mugs
• Mini Measuring Set
• Cake Pan with RB 9 in - 24 cm

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Instructions

Prepare the wet ingredients

• Mix the yeast with the lukewarm water, put aside and let it rest
• Melt the butter in the microwave 1 minute at medium heat or in a pan and let it cool down
• Add the oil and the eggs to the butter and mix
• Add the yeast, stir and set aside

Prepare the dry ingredients

• Mix the flour with salt and pepper

Mix the wet and dry ingredients

• With the mixer stir the wet and dry ingredients together making sure there are no lumps in the flour
• Add the Parmesan, the Pecorino and stir
• Cover the bowl with a cloth and let it rest for 30 minutes

Bake it

• Cover the bottom of a baking pan with parchment paper, best if it is a pan with removable bottom. Butter the side of the pan
• Pour the dough into the pan, cover with a cloth and let it rest for another 30 minutes
• Bake in a hot oven at 320 F -160 C for 1 hour
• Once done, let it rest for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan
• Serve with prosciutto, salami and boiled eggs

Video

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Notes

• If you have a bread machine, you can pour the wet ingredients first and the dry ingredients last and set up the bread machine to make bread dough. Add the cheese only when the machine has finished the first kneading. It usually rings when it does. 
• Make sure the butter is not hot when you add the eggs and the yeast
• You can use fresh yeast, dry yeast or sourdough yeast 
• You can replace the parmesan and pecorino cheese with other cheese based on your taste. Although best not to add creamy cheese as they will change the consistency of the dough
• The top of the bread tends to burn easily because of the cheese, keep the oven temperature at 320 F -160 C
• If you prefer a higher bread shape you can use a 7 in - 18 cm baking pan
• It is best to eat the same day, but if covered with cling wrap it will last for 3 days

Nutrition

Calories: 508kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 168mg | Sodium: 722mg | Potassium: 231mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 656IU | Calcium: 249mg | Iron: 4mg

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