4 great recipes for a traditional Easter shoulder bag. A savory treat that tastes good

A traditional dish that is especially popular in Silesia.

In essence, it is a leavened bread dough filled with bacon, smoked shoulder, sausages, but also sausage.

However, you can put any other meat inside as you like. For example, in Portugal, similar bread is made, but filled with chicken, smoked ham, cod and sardines.

We bring you the best recipes for Easter shoulder , so get inspired! 🙂

Easter shoulder bag with smoked meat

You can find lots of inspiration and recipes on the internet. While some make their own dough from scratch, others rely on bagged bread mix to make the process much easier. Just like in our recipe.

Ingredients

• 500 g of homemade bread mix in a bag
• 350 g of smoked meat in total
• pale beer for batter

Method

1. Directly on the mixture, you have instructions on how to process the bread. It is ideal to add beer to the dough, because the real recipe for shoulder bag says that the dough is prepared with beer.
2. Cook the smoked meat and cut it into larger pieces.
3. Once the dough has risen, roll it out into a sheet about 5 millimeters thick and about 20 centimeters wide.
4. Spread the smoked meat over the dough, feel free to add the sausages, and then roll the dough into a bread shape.
5. Leave the Easter bread to rise for another 15 minutes.
6. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 180°C and bake the puff pastry until golden.
7. Then let it cool and cut into slices like bread.

Backpack with sausage

Easter šöldra is also baked in Portugal. It’s the best Easter šöldra you’ve ever eaten. This time you will also make the dough yourself from scratch. Don’t worry, it’s nothing complicated.

Dough ingredients

• 1 kg plain flour
• 18 eggs
• 200 g of butter
• 200 ml of olive oil
• 150 ml of water
• 30 g of fresh yeast
• 30 g of sea salt

Ingredients for the filling

• smoked ham
• sausage
• bacon

Method

1. All ingredients should be at room temperature.
2. Prepare the baking paper.
3. In a small bowl, whisk warm water with fresh yeast.
4. In another bowl, beat the eggs.
5. Melt the butter in a small pan, remove the pan from the heat. Add the olive oil, then set the mixture aside.
6. In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Make a hole in the middle, add the mixture of water and yeast into it and slowly mix the dough.
7. Add olive oil and butter to the dough.
8. Knead the dough for about 15 minutes until bubbles appear.
9. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave the dough for the Easter shoulder bag to stand for about 2 hours at room temperature.
10. Cut your sausage into slices, as well as smoked ham or bacon.
11. Spread the dough on baking paper, spread the sausage, ham and bacon on it, then wrap the dough to look like bread.
12. Leave the bread to rise for half an hour.
13. Preheat the oven to 225°C.
14. Easter šöldra is baked for about 40 minutes.

Easter shoulder bag with dip

Try this recipe for Těšín šöldra. It is prepared with smoked ham or smoked shoulder. Get inspired.

Ingredients

• 2 onions
• 2 kg of smoked ham
• 4 bay leaves
• 2 sage leaves
• 1 tablespoon of black pepper balls
• 1 package of bread baking mix
• flour
• 2 tablespoons of mustard
• a little dill
• 100 g of mayonnaise
• 250 g of white yogurt
• a pinch of salt and pepper

Method

1. First, peel the onion.
2. Place the ham in a large pot and cover with water. Add the onion, black peppercorns, sage leaves and bay leaves to the water, but no salt.
3. Bring the ham to a boil and let it cook for 1.5 hours.
4. Remove the ham and let it cool.
5. Line a tray with baking paper and prepare the dough.
6. Refer to the bread mix package insert for information on how to make the bread dough. Classic bread dough is used.
7. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes, then mix it and spread it on a baking sheet. The sheet should be about half a centimeter thick.
8. Put a whole ham in the middle, spread mustard on it and brush the edges of the dough with a little water.
9. Wrap the ham in the dough and press the edges well.
10. Let the shoulder rest for another 30 minutes.
11. Preheat the oven to 250 °C and bake the shoulder for about an hour.
12. Also make a dip by mixing herbs, mayonnaise and yogurt. Season it with salt and pepper.

German Easter Schölder

Even in neighboring Germany, shoulder is baked on this Christian holiday. Their recipe for backpacks is similar to ours.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon of active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 3 spoons of honey
• 3 cups of bread flour
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander seeds
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 3 and 1/2 cups dark rye flour

Ingredients for ham filling

• 1 kg boneless smoked ham (smoked shoulder, sausages, bacon)
• 2 onions cut into slices
• 1 sprig of rosemary
• 2 sage leaves
• 1 tablespoon of pepper balls
• 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1-2 cups Dijon mustard
• 1 cup brown sugar

Method

• Prepare the bread dough the day before. Mix the yeast with 1/4 cup of hot water, wait for foam to form.
• Meanwhile, heat the molasses, honey, and 1 and 3/4 cups of water. Stir the mixture constantly, otherwise it will start to burn. Then let it cool down.
• Mix the flour, cumin, coriander, salt and cardamom in a bowl. Stir the mixture so that the individual ingredients are perfectly combined.
• Add the yeast and molasses mixture, mixing the dough with a wooden spoon until the ingredients are combined. Gradually add the rye flour until the dough starts to stick and hold together.
• If you find it difficult to mix with a wooden spoon, knead it by hand, even for ten minutes. Keep adding flour until the dough is sticky.
• Shape the dough into a ball and place it in an oiled bowl. Cover and let it rise for about two hours.
• Then mix the dough lightly, return it to the bowl, cover it with a lid and let the dough cool overnight in the refrigerator.
• The next day, prepare the ham. Put it in a pot, cover it with water, add onion, sage, rosemary and pepper. Bring it to a boil and cook it for about an hour and a half. Remove the ham and let it cool. Once cooled, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for about one to two hours.
• Dust the work surface with flour and roll out the dough so that the sheet is about half a centimeter thick.
• In a small bowl, combine the black pepper, cloves, ground spices, Dijon mustard, and brown sugar. Brush the ham with this mixture and place it on top of the dough.
• Moisten the edges of the dough a little, then fold the dough over the ham and press the edges together.
• Line a tray with baking paper. Place the Easter shoulder on it and let it stand for another half hour.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 250°C.
• Bake the sirloin for an hour and let it cool before slicing.

How to make shoulder dough?

Making the dough for a shoulder bag is simple. If you don’t have time to make your own yeast dough, you can directly buy a mixture that is commonly available in stores. These are bread mixes that you prepare according to the instructions on the package.

But do you want to make your own sourdough? Will this make your shoulder bag taste better? There are several recipes. For example, we have tried this one ourselves and it is perfect.

You will need:

• 1 kg plain flour
• 500 ml of water
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• yeast
• a little sugar
• 1 tablespoon of oil
• 1 large egg

Preparation process:

• Mix the sugar and a cube of yeast with a little lukewarm water. This will create yeast.
• Mix the flour, salt and cumin in a bowl. Add the oil and yeast to the flour mixture, then gradually add the lukewarm water until a smooth bread dough is formed.
• Form a bun, cover it with a towel and let it rise in a warm place for at least one hour.

What is the origin of the backpack?

Easter bread is a popular type of savory pastry made from bread dough. Because smoked shoulder is put inside (but you can also use other types of meat), it is called shoulder bag and shoulder bag. At first glance, it looks like a classic bread, but after cutting it open, you will be surprised by the sausage. Easter šöldra has its origins in Silesia, but you will also find recipes abroad.

As a side dish, beer, wine, spirits, cucumbers, pickled onions, pickled garlic, olives, sausages and the like are added to this delicacy.