Butirata

16th century, Italian

Main Ingredients:

From Scappi, Opera (Italian)

To make crusts with fat cheese & butter, commonly called butirata

Take 4 slices of white bread with the crusts cut off & stood under, and have it in a big silver plate, or a copper or brass pot well steeled within & without,greased w/ 6 oz. of fresh butter, & over that put one piece of bread, & over the bread little slices of fresh cheese not salted, or other fat cheese, & dust it w/ sugar & cinnamon, and over that, put another so much butter, & in this manner make 3 so as the first, & give it the fire under & over, as is done to the tart, but moderately, & more above than below. As they are stood under, serve them hot w/ sugar & cinnamon over. It is possible to make this with gilded & fried bread, & it is also possible to dust w/ sugar & not cinnamon, or make it without cheese, but only bread without heating it.

Translation by Clara Beaumont