Savory Sponge Roll with Ham and Cheese
The Argentine pionono: a very thin, pliable sponge sheet made from only three ingredients, filled with mayonnaise, lettuce, ham, cheese and tomato, and rolled up. The roll that solves the holiday starter and the summer packed lunch.
The sugar is not there to sweeten — it makes the sheet elastic. One tablespoon per egg. Without it the sheet is brittle and cracks when you roll it; with it, it rolls up like a cloth, and you do not taste it in the savoury filling.
The second trick is rolling it while warm, together with a slightly damp cloth: that way the sponge takes the shape while it is still soft. Rolled cold, it splits lengthwise.
Ingredients
- For the sponge: 3 eggs
- 3 tbsp sugar (one per egg; it does not sweeten, it gives elasticity)
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour (plain flour)
- 1 tsp honey (optional, for an even more pliable sheet)
- Filling: 150 g mayonnaise
- 200 g cooked ham, sliced
- 200 g sliced sandwich cheese
- 1 tomato, thinly sliced and drained
- Lettuce leaves, washed and thoroughly dried
Method
- 1
Heat the oven to 200 °C. Line a 30x40 cm tray with buttered baking paper.
- 2
Beat the eggs with the sugar and the honey at maximum speed for 8-10 minutes, to the ribbon stage: that is the entire secret of the lightness.
- 3
Fold in the sifted flour with sweeping movements, without beating.
- 4
Pour onto the tray, level it and bake for 8-10 minutes, until it is barely golden and the centre springs back when touched. Overbaked, it cracks when you roll it.
- 5
Turn it out while hot onto a slightly damp tea towel, peel off the paper and roll the pionono up WITH the towel. Let it cool like that: it takes the shape without cracking.
- 6
Unroll it carefully, spread with mayonnaise and cover with lettuce, ham, cheese and tomato, leaving a clear border.
- 7
Roll it up again, wrap it tightly in cling film and refrigerate for 1 hour before cutting into 2 cm slices.