Casatiello is a typical Neapolitan rustic cake, perhaps the most famous rustic cake that is prepared in Naples at Easter.
At Easter on Neapolitan tables there is never a lack of salty casatiello and its "cousin" Tortano. They are two full-bodied and rich rustic cakes that differ in the position of the eggs: in the casatiello they are placed on top in a radial pattern, closed by an impasto cross; in the tortano the eggs are inside, in the filling. The casatiello is a bread that also has a strong Christian symbolism, it represents the crown of thorns of the Crucifix. It is eaten on Holy Saturday accompanied by broad beans, soppressata and salted ricotta cheese; what is left over is taken on Easter Monday. A rustic with a not easy character, not by chance in Naples is used to indicate a person not very jovial with the term "sì proprio’ nu casatiello! " Translation for my friends from the north "You are really a person with a heavy character.
