Years ago, walking down a small road in Porto, Portugal, near the Clerigos tower, I saw this stuffed sandwich in a bakery window, and was very curious about making it. I figured that it was made of not-so-rich dough, like the one for making milk bread but adding an egg for body. Unfortunately, since we were bereft of time, we did not stop to taste the many bakery goods we saw.
After two years, I finally found the time and enthusiasm to make it. However I wanted to change it a bit, and instead of individual pieces, I decided to make a loaf of these pieces, that one can just pull apart, similar to the famous Parker House rolls, only stuffed.
So I mixed one batch of dough (just like I would for my cinnamon rolls), but this time, I held back 1/4 c milk from the usual two cups, and added an egg instead.
I let it rise twice for an hour after deflating it in between, and afterwards poured it onto a clean cutting board. Using my hands, I flattened the round dough first and then using a roller, formed it to a 16″x 24″ rectangle, and brushed the surface with melted butter.
Next I proceeded to divide it into 24 pieces of flat rectangles, by making five equal cuts across on the long side, and three cuts on the short side.
For two 12″x 4″x 3″ loaf pans the I had around, I laid a piece of parchment paper in both of them, and sprayed the sides with non stick. (You may butter the insides or lay out paper to cover all sides, but leaving paper on the sides makes for easy lifting and serving.)
For each piece, I laid a thin piece of ham and slices of cheese on the bottom half, enough to leave a 1/4″ on all sides. Then I folded the top half onto the bottom, and lightly pressed the edges to seal. This makes one stuffed sandwich. I placed it in the loaf pan, folded side up, and added 11 more pieces to one loaf pan. Repeated for the other pan, brushed the tops with butter, added pieces of cheese on top, covered with plastic, and let the dough rise.
Then I preheated the oven to 400 deg F.
When the dough reached the height of the pan, I placed both pans together in the middle rack leaving space in between so they can bake evenly, and decreased the temperature to 375 deg F. When tops were brown, I inserted a toothpick in the middle of the loaves to test for doneness. Coming out clean, after about an hour, I took out the pans, and placed them on a rack to cool.
Finally lift the loaf and place on a serving plate or board. Detach each sandwich, or slice with a knife, for one serving.
Ingredients:
- 6-7 cups flour
- 1-3/4 cups warm milk (I use 2%)
- 1 egg
- 1-1/2 tsp dry instant yeast or active dry (proof in a cup of warm milk first, 10 minutes)
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 4 Tablespoons butter
- 4 Tablespoons butter for brushing tops
Stuffing:
- 24 pieces (about 2″x2″) any preferred ham (I baked the smallest ham I can get, and froze the rest)
- 24 pieces (about 2″x2″) any melty cheese ( I use Sonoma cheese with red peppers)
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