Ingredients:

1 lb pizza dough, store bought or homemade 

8 oz sliced prosciutto, cut in small chunks

Ground pepper to taste

2 Tbsp lard or butter, melted

Directions: 

If making pizza dough from scratch, follow dough instructions in this recipe:

https://www.nonnaantoinette.com/recipe/pizza-casareccia

If using store bought, allow it to come to room temperature before using.

Place pizza dough on a clean and floured working surface.

Gently stretch it out as if you were making pizza.

Melt one tablespoon of the lard (or butter) and brush over top of dough.

Sprinkle ground pepper to taste.

Add the cut up prosciutto evenly over dough.

Carefully roll dough into a log.

Fold log in three over itself and knead by hand until prosciutto is fully incorporated.

Form into a dough ball and place into a bowl.

Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm area.

Allow enough time for dough to double, about 1 hour.

Place risen dough back on your floured working surface.

Shape dough into a log, about 20” long.

Gently twist the log along its length to create spiral ridges.

Shape into a ring/“donut” and secure both ends together using a little water if needed.

Place ring on a greased round pizza pan.

Cover with film or towel and rest for 30 minutes.

While dough is resting, preheat oven to 400F.

Place a small ovenproof pot filled with water in oven just before baking the bread. Leave this in the oven while baking the bread.

Brush remaining tablespoon of melted lard/butter evenly over dough ring.

Bake bread for 25 to 30 minutes or until crust is crisp and light brown.

Serve warm.

TIPS:

The above is the traditional recipe but I’ll give you some shortcuts for a quicker version.

Use store bought dough but leave it out of the fridge for a few hours. Ex, if making bread for dinner, leave dough out first thing in the morning. If making for lunch, leave dough out overnight, taking dough out of fridge before going to bed.

Stretch dough out into a rectangle. Brush lard/butter, sprinkle pepper and add cut up prosciutto. Roll into log, twist, shape into a ring, seal ends and bake on greased pizza pan in preheated 400F oven, after you brushed it with melted lard/butter.

Make sure to still use a pot of water alongside the bread while baking.