Campo Maior Oven-Baked Bread with Bacon and Onion

A crusty Alentejo loaf, filled with bacon, onion and mayonnaise, arrives hot at the table for everyone to share. The toasted lid and crumb are used to scoop up the filling; at the end, the bread crust is cut up too. An oven-baked starter to kick off a family lunch or bring everyone together at the Christmas table.

A winter recipe from Campo Maior

The Alentejo Gastronomic Guide records this “Oven-Baked Bread” in Campo Maior, in the parish of Nossa Senhora da Expectação. The recipe was collected by Francisco Semedo of ADER-AL, in an interview with Helena Ruas in 2012, and is associated with winter.

Estimated servings: 4–6 people, as a starter
Preparation: about 25 minutes
Oven time: about 20–25 minutes
Total time: about 45–50 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 500 g Traditional Alentejo Wood-Fired Oven Bread, with a firm crust
• 150 g bacon, cut into small cubes
• 100 g onion, weighed after peeling and finely chopping
• 100 g store-bought mayonnaise

Step-by-step preparation

1. Hollow out the bread.
   Preheat the oven to 180 °C, without fan. Cut a lid from the top of the bread and carefully remove the crumb, leaving about 1.5–2 cm next to the crust and without piercing the bottom. Set aside 30 g of the crumb for the filling and crumble it. Tear the rest into pieces to toast and serve.
2. Fry the bacon and onion.
   Place the bacon in a non-stick frying pan without adding any fat and cook over medium heat for about 5–7 minutes, stirring until it releases its fat and starts to brown. Add the onion and cook over medium-low heat for another 8–10 minutes, until soft. If there is a lot of liquid fat in the pan, drain off the excess. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for about 5 minutes. While the filling cooks, finish preparing the bread.
3. Mix and fill.
   Mix the bacon and onion with the mayonnaise and 30 g of crumbled bread crumb. Spread inside the loaf without pressing down or filling beyond the rim. The cavity varies depending on the shape of the loaf: if you have any filling left over, put it in a small ovenproof dish and heat it alongside.
4. Bake.
   Place the filled, uncovered loaf on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Bake on the middle shelf for about 20–25 minutes, until the filling is piping hot in the centre and the crust is crisp. Check the inside with a spoon: it should release steam in the centre too, not just around the edges. If necessary, bake for a few more minutes. If the crust starts to get too dark, cover it with aluminium foil. During the last 8–10 minutes, add the top and pieces of crumb to the tray, turning them if necessary and removing them as soon as they are toasted.
5. Serve to share.
   Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately, with the sliced-off top cut into strips and the toasted crumb arranged around it. Use a spoon to spread the filling over the bread. When there is little filling left, cut the crust into pieces to make use of the part that was in contact with it.

Tips for a crisp crust

Choose a loaf with a good structure and leave the base intact. The onion should be soft, with no liquid left in the pan, before adding it to the filling. Only fill the loaf just before baking: the longer the mixture sits inside, the more moisture the crumb will absorb.

Wine pairing

Serve with Cartuxa Rosé 2023, at around 10–12 °C. The freshness of the rosé contrasts with the bacon and creamy filling. To prepare the starter, find the 500 g Traditional Alentejo Wood-Fired Bread in our shop.

Preparation ahead and storage

You can cook the bacon and onion ahead of time. Leave to cool, store in a covered container in the fridge and add the mayonnaise and bread crumb only when you are ready to fill the loaf. If using the filling cold, the baking time may be longer: always check that the centre is piping hot.

If you have portions left over, cut the filled bread into pieces and refrigerate them within two hours of taking it out of the oven. Consume within 48 hours, also following the instructions on the ingredients. When reheating, heat until the filling is steaming throughout. The crust loses some of its texture after refrigeration.

Frequently asked questions

The filling won’t all fit in the bread. Should I remove more of the soft centre?

Don’t weaken the sides or base to make it fit. Heat any leftover filling in a small ovenproof dish and serve with the toasted pieces. A 500 g loaf may have more or less room inside, depending on its shape and crust thickness.

Can I prepare the filled bread the night before?

It’s best to store the cooked bacon and onion separately in the fridge, and fill the bread close to serving time. This way, the bread won’t spend the night absorbing moisture from the filling.

The crust is already golden, but the filling is not yet hot in the centre. What should I do?

Cover the crust with aluminium foil and continue heating. Check the centre with a spoon before removing it from the oven. Use the filling while still warm to start, and avoid packing it tightly into the bread.

Another starter for the table

To alternate the warm bread with a fresh starter, try the Salad of Roasted Peppers with Tuna and Galega Olive Oil.

Source and adaptations

Carta Gastronómica do Alentejo (2013), p. 151, “Pão no Forno”, Campo Maior. Interview with Helena Ruas by Francisco Semedo, ADER-AL, 2012.

Recipe collected in the Alentejo, adapted by Herdade do Estacal for the blog “À Mesa com o Alentejo”. The source lists Alentejo bread, bacon, onion and mayonnaise, without quantities or timings. In this version, we set the proportions for a 500 g loaf, add 30 g of the bread’s soft centre to the filling and toast the rest to serve. Pre-frying the bacon and onion, using store-bought mayonnaise, setting the oven to 180 °C and checking for doneness are guidelines for this adaptation. Yield and timings are estimates.

Illustrative image generated for this article.