A very popular flatbread from the Italian region called “Emilia-Romagna” usually made with flour, lard or olive oil.
Today this recipe is widespread all around the globe and has been adapted to the available ingredients.
Piadina means small “piada”; piada like the Greek word “pida” are flatbreads. The dough of this flatbread is not fermented (no yeast addition), but today the addition of baking powder is very common. Similar arcaic recipes can be found in India (Chapatty), in Mexico (Tortilla), Turkey (pide) and all around the world. Apparently the original recipe included lard, but today olive oil is widely used for this recipe as a mixture between water and milk instead of only milk (for softer result).
My father brought this recipe into my family and we love to prepare this again and again in his honor as well.
This bread needs to be eaten still warm, filled with “prosciutto crudo” (for example Parma ham), cheese, rucola or many other ingredients. Fold the warm piadina and fill it with your favorite ingredients.
You need
- 500 g flour (4 cups)
- 75 olive oil (1/3 cup, original recipe with rendered lard but I use olive oil only)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 100 ml milk (1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon)
- 100 ml water (1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon)
Preparation
- Combine all the upper ingredients in a big bowl and knead well combined and it comes together. If necessary add a few tablespoons water. For this bread I use a kneading machine as it’s faster and easier.
- Wrap with foil or cover with a bowl and lest rest at least 60 minutes.
- Cut into 8 slices and shape them into balls.
- Roll out each ball to rounds of about 25 cm (10 inches). You will not need flour on the table.
- Put the rolled out piadine on a tray using parchment foil to separate them.
- Now heat up your nonstick skillet or an old non sticking fry pan to medium high. Don’t add any kind of oil or fat!
- Bake dry on the first side, check the underside, and when it looks done, flip it and bake the other side. The piadina should be pale, but with dark brown spots. Be careful not to burn it. During baking pinch them and roll them with the fork. In about 3-4 minutes they should be ready.
- In the meanwhile roll out the second piadina and so on.
- Serve immediately and don’t cover!
Tip: I have two old nonstick pans that I reserved for this recipe or to roast nuts. I use both at the same time!
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