Bolos do Caco with Chouriço

These chouriço stuffed bolos do caco are a delicious twist on the traditional Madieran sweet potato flatbread. 

  

Bolo do Caco originated in the Portuguese islands of Madiera, off of the coast of Africa. They are a flatbread that also includes sweet potatoes, which evidently do very well on the island and also help stretch a limited supply of wheat. 

Bolos do Caco made their way to Portugal, and are traditionally served with garlic butter. They are also are split to make meat and seafood sandwiches. Originally they were grilled on hot stones, thus the name. The word "bolo" means cake and "caco" means tile in Portuguese. 

I've also come across some references to stuffing these sweet potato flatbreads with either chouriço or linguiça so I definitely wanted to give this version a try. 

Results? These are totally delicious. They are a wonderful breakfast, lunch, or snack, and the slightly sweet flatbread is a wonderful contrast to the spicy chouriço. 

Ingredients:

Sweet Potato: Traditionally, bolo do caco is made with a white (gold) sweet potato but feel free to use a red sweet potato if that is all you have available. You may need to adjust the amount of water in the bread because the red potatoes are typically more moist. 

Bread Flour: I used King Arthur bread flour. Their all purpose flour would also work well in this recipe. 

Pantry Ingredients: You will also need salt, a bit of honey, salted butter, and instant yeast. 

Sausage: I used chouriço (not to be confused with Mexican chorizo), which is a blend of pork with spices and comes fully cooked. You can also use linguiça, which is very similar. Use as much or as little of the sausage as you like. I started with thin slices of the sausage, but next time I think I'll double the amount. 

You could also try stuffing some cheese in these flatbreads along with the sausage. 

To Make These Bolos do Caco:

First, bake the sweet potato until soft and let it cool. You can mash it and save it in the refrigerator for the next day. Just make sure it has fully cooled to room temperature before mixing the dough. 

To prepare the dough, mix the sweet potato, a bit of honey, the butter, the flour, instant yeast, water, and salt. Knead the dough on low for about five minutes. Adjust the flour or water, and then knead on medium high for about two minutes. 

Next, transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and let rise until doubled. In the meantime, sear the chouriço in a 12-inch skillet to render a bit of fat. 

Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces and flatten each piece into a rectangle. Lay strips or rounds of the sausage onto the dough and wrap the dough over it to form a rectangle with the seam in the middle. Place the shaped dough onto an oiled plate or baking sheet, and cover with oiled plastic wrap. Let rise for about 30 minutes, until puffy. 

Heat a 12-inch stainless steel skillet over medium high heat and place three of the dough rectangles on the hot, ungreased pan and cook until browned, about 2 to 3 minutes. Flip them over and cook for another 2 minutes. Place them on a baking sheet in the oven to finish baking. Repeat with the other three rectangles. 

Finish baking the breads in a 350 degree F oven for about 15 minutes. 

Leftovers:

If you have leftovers, you can store them in the refrigerator or freezer. They can easily be reheated for about 30 to 60 seconds in the microwave. 

Serving Suggestions: 

Slice them any way you like and definitely serve them warm. 

I loved these with garlic butter and even a little bit of mustard. 

This month, the Bread Baking Babes are baking Bolo do Caco. Our host kitchen is Blog from OUR Kitchen. After the recipe, be sure to check out everyone's versions of this bread. 

Bolos do Caco with Chouriço Recipe

Yield: 6 servings

Author: Karen's Kitchen Stories

Prep time: 1 HourCook time: 30 MinInactive time: 2 H & 30 MTotal time: 4 Hour

These chouriço stuffed bolos do caco are a delicious twist on the traditional Madieran sweet potato flatbread.

Ingredients

• 1 medium white (gold) sweet potato, large enough to produce 7 ounce (200 grams) of pulp after baking. You may substitute a red sweet potato but may have to adjust the water.
• 2 tablespoons salted butter, softened
• 2 teaspoons honey
• (3 grams) 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt or 1/2 teaspoon table salt.
• 309 (about 2 1/2 cups) to 329 grams (plus 2 tablespoons if needed) bread flour
• 114 to 138 grams (1/2 to 5/8 cup) water
• 4.5 grams (1 1/2 teaspoons) instant yeast
• Chouriço or linguiça sausage, about 5 to 8 ounces, cut into slices and lightly browned in a skillet.

Instructions

1. Bake the sweet potato in a 400 degree F oven until soft, about 45 minutes.
2. Peel and mash the potato and measure 7 ounces/200 grams and let cool. Cover and refrigerate if not using immediately.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together the potato, butter, honey, salt, 309 grams (2 1/2 cups) of the bread flour, 1/2 cup water, and yeast. Mix on low, adjusting the water and flour to achieve a tacky dough. After five minutes, change the speed to medium high and mix for 1 to 2 minutes to develop the gluten structure.
4. Place the dough into an oiled bowl or Cambro bucket and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled, about 2 hours.
5. Deflate the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into 6 equal pieces. Flatten the dough pieces into rectangles and place the chouriço down the center and wrap the dough around the sausage and seal the seam in the middle and at each end to form a rectangle. Place the rectangle on an oiled plate or baking sheet and cover with oiled plastic wrap. Repeat with the rest of the dough pieces.
6. Let rise for 30 minutes, until puffy.
7. Line a baking sheet with parchment and heat your oven to 350 degrees F.
8. When the breads are ready, heat a stainless steel 12-inch skillet over medium high heat. Gently place 3 of the breads on the pan and cook for 2 minutes, until browned and crisp. Flip and cook for 2 minutes more. Place the browned breads on the baking sheet in the oven. Repeat with the other three flatbreads.
9. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes, until the breads are 200 degrees in the middle.
10. Cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before serving.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

333

Fat (grams)

11 g

Sat. Fat (grams)

5 g

Carbs (grams)

47 g

Fiber (grams)

3 g

Net carbs

45 g

Sugar (grams)

4 g

Protein (grams)

11 g

Cholesterol (grams)

27 mg

https://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2024/04/bolos-do-caco-with-chourico.html

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