La Piadina from Romagna
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Anyone who has visited Italy’s adriatic coastal region of Emilia-Romagna will have encountered this simple flat-bread that tastes so good that it has had poems, books, and songs dedicated to it. Each town in Romagna proudly conserves its own recipe, with the bread differing in thickness and the use of lard or bicarbonates. It’s said that you can blindfold an expert and drive him from town to town in the region, and he can tell you where you are by tasting the local piadina!
Ingredients to make Piadina
600grms of flour
40grms of pork lard
1 packet of yeast
a pinch of salt
How to make the Piadina
Spread your flour out on your baking board in a hollow circle shape, putting in the centre the salt, lard, and yeast. Mix the ingredients slowly and well, adding small amounts of warm water where necessary to keep the mix consistent. Work the dough for up to a quarter of an hour. Put the dough in a bowl and leave to stand, covered by a towel, for a half an hour. Afterwards, work the dough again for another 5-10 minutes, and then roll out a sheet with the thickness you like best – this will be something you’ll need to experiment with. Also the size of the piada is up to you, though obviously you want it to fit the pan on which you’re going to cook it – in the Romagna region they have special flat pans purpose made for cooking the piada, but you’ll manage on a non-stick frying pan if needs be.
To cook, heat your pan – without oil – and then throw on the piada, moving it constantly to ensure it doesn’t burn – after a couple of minutes, flip to cook the other side.
Serving suggestions
The Piadina, like all breads, is versatile, but the classic combinations are
with prosciutto crudo (parma ham) and a creamy cheese like squaquerone
with squaquerone and rocket
with grilled Italian sausage and fried onions
To Drink
It obviously depends upon what you put on the Piadina, but you can rarely go wrong with a simple Sangiovese red.
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Tags: breads, italian breads
