Pan de jamon or ham bread, is a soft bread dough stuffed with ham, olives, raisins and sometimes -the best times- bacon and cream cheese. The only thing is that the process of making the dough is a long and exhaustive one and somehow it clashes with the fast rhythm of life of the big city -and by big city I am definitely not referring to Caracas but to agitated London-. Therefore I chose to make Pan de Jamon with puff pastry instead -the most expensive option in Venezuela's market and contrastingly, the cheapest one in London-. It takes about an hour to make and bake and just seconds to enjoy!
I would like to add here a recent anecdote: I gave a portion of Pan de Jamon to a Scottish young lady I know and although she didn't question its deliciousness, she just couldn't understand the reason for the raisins and she confessed -to my regret- that she left them on the side! Feel free not to include them in your recipe, but please just be adventurous -and a little bit exotic- and give it a try!
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| © Diana Chaccour |
Ingredients
375 g puff pastry ready to roll -1 pack-
100 g unsalted butter, melted
100 g cream cheese
200 g wafer thin cook ham
100 g smoked bacon (about 8 strips)
100 g green olives, pitted and stuffed with red peppers
50 g raisins
1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon of water -egg wash-
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| © Diana Chaccour |
Preparation method
Preheat the oven to 180C / 356F.
Take the puff pastry out of the fridge 10 minutes before using it. Unroll the pastry on a clean surface and brush it with some of the melted butter. Now spread the cream cheese evenly all over the pastry. Cover the pastry with the cooked ham slices, followed by the bacon strips. Add the green olives and then the raisins.
Roll the pastry long wise, being careful that the stuffing remains inside. Brush the back of the pastry with the remaining melted butter while you roll it. Seal the extremes of the roll and brush it with the rest of the melted butter and the egg wash.
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| © Diana Chaccour |
Place it in the freezer for about 5 minutes.
Bring it out of the freezer and pinch the roll everywhere using a fork. Place the roll in a baking tray prepared with baking parchment and bake in the preheated oven for about 1 hour or until it looks gold and crispy on the surface. Allow it to cool down slightly before cutting it in slices.
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| © Diana Chaccour |
Buen apetito!
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| © Diana Chaccour |
Hey,
ReplyDeleteDiana... I never heard of cream cheese on Pan de Jamon (perhaps I left Venezuela too young to remember)
This Xmas, I'll be spending it with Mum and my sister... and so they want Pan de Jamon, for what I said: Chillax, I'll make it... (ha!)
I've done it before and also had used Puff for the dough... I've never used bacon in my version of it (must try it this time).... Oh! and i use a little secret before I lay the ham.. (as I recall a woman doing when I was little) I use a bit of Rasberry or Strawberry jam as bed for the ham.... (yes, I have a sweet tooth)
Forget the Span, but there might be people interested.... My sis just told me this week that there will be a Venezuelan Xmas Bazaar on the 9th December (2012) at the Irish Cultural Center (London - Hammersmith , Blacks Rd - W6 9DT)
Cheers
P.
Hello P. Thank you for your lovely comment! The cream cheese is an exquisiteness that I probable dreamed off.. although I am 77% sure that it is out there in the bakeries. I am intrigued about the strawberry jam and therefore I will have to make it again using your version!
ReplyDeleteI will do my best to go to the bazaar, thank you for the info :)
I hope you have a delicious Christmas and thank you for reading our blog!
Diana