Ham Wrapped in Bread Dough

Easter is one of the greatest feasts in Christianity, the resurrection of Jesus, the redemption. But it is also a time of renewal, of letting go, of physical and spiritual purification.

On Easter Sunday, the 40-day Lenten season comes to an end and the faithful bring their food to church to be blessed by the priest. The basket traditionally contains food such as eggs, Easter bread (kalács), lamb or even ham. The lamb symbolizes Jesus Christ, but there is also a good reason why ham is in the basket.

Farmers slaughtered pigs in winter, as in the past it was easier to store a large amount of meat in the cold. The smoked ham could be kept longer than other meats and while these were eaten in winter and people did not eat meat during Lent, by Easter only the ham was left in the chambers. In the past, it was also not common to eat ham, which is why eating it added something even more special to Easter.

Ham wrapped in bread

Ingredients for 1 kg of ham:

300 g flour

1 egg yolk

2 boiled potatoes

1 pkg dry yeast or 25 g fresh yeast + a little bit of sugar

100-200 ml lukewarm milk

2 tablespoons oil

salt

1. Boil the ham until soft (about 1-1,5 hrs), let it cool down and remove the strings.
2. Soak the yeast in 100 ml of lukewarm milk, add a little sugar, sprinkle with a pinch of flour and let rise.
3. Mix the yeast milk with the flour and add the cooked, mashed potatoes, egg yolk, salt, oil and enough milk to make a not too soft, well kneaded dough.
4. Leave the dough to rise in a warm place until it has doubled in volume.
5. Stretch the dough into a rectangle about half a finger thick.
6. Place the cooked ham on top and roll the dough over it so that the whole ham is covered with the dough. Brush the top with egg yolk.
7. Bake in preheated oven at 200 degrees celcius for 30 min. until golden brown.

You can serve the ham with radishes cut into flowers, spring onions, tomatoes and colored eggs.

We wish you a happy and blessed Easter!

(Photos: Eszter Grifatong)