El Hornazo                   

El Hornazo salmantino

El Hornazo Salamantino is a tasty dish that can be prepared at anytime of the year. Traditionally the hornazo was eaten only after Easter Sunday thus ending the period of Lent.  Whenever there is a festival or event related to the gastronomy throughout the regions in Spain, Hornazo is always the traditional dish selected to represent the province of Salamanca. Dry cured pork loin, ham, and chorizo are just a few of the local products that are included in the hornazo.

Difficulty:  Medium Preparation time: About two hours
Ingredients:                                                                                       - 1/2 kilo of flour - 20 g yeast         - 1 chorizo - 1 salchicón ibérico - 100 g of thickly sliced serrano ham - 100 g of Iberian dry, cured pork loin - 2 eggs - Saffron (optional) - Water - Butter - Salt

- Prepare the dough by mixing the yeast with a half cup of warm water and one cup of flour.
- Knead the dough into a round shape.
- Set the dough aside in a protected area with no air currents and cover with a cotton towel until the dough has doubled in size and fermented.
- When the dough has fermented, take a large bowl and mix together the remaining flour, the saffron and add salt. Form into a ball.
- The butter is softened and added to this dough.
- In the center of this dough place the fermented dough that was set aside previously. 
- Knead both pieces of dough together, adding a little warm water as needed, until the dough is soft, elastic, and doesn't stick to your fingers. 
- Cover the dough with the towel and wait until it has doubled in size.
- While waiting for the dough to rise, boil one egg and remove the skin of the chorizo and salchichon and slice both. Place the slices of chorizo, salchichon, and ham in a skillet to fry for a short time.
- Slice the pork and then cut the slices in half. The slices do not have to be very large.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, knead it again for one minute.
- Place half of the dough on a tray and spread the chorizo, salchichon, ham, and pork around on top.
- Peel and slice the boiled egg and add the slices.
- Cover everything with the other half of the dough. To do so, roll the dough out flat on the table and place it on top.  Connect the dough together. 
- Set the dough aside to rise in a protected area for one hour.  With a fork, make a few small holes on the top part of the dough so that the air can escape and bubbles don't form.
- Preheat the oven to a medium temperature.
- Finally, beat an egg and spread it over the surface of the dough. Bake about 30 minutes, until golden brown.
- To know when the Hornazo is finished try sticking a toothpick in the bread. If the toothpick comes out clean the hornazo is ready.
- Let cool before serving.