The piadina from Romagna: the yummy mother of every flatbread

The “Piadina flatbread” is probably the most famous food symbol in Romagna, an area located at the east of the city of Bologna. Romagna is famous for  the provinces of Forlì-Cesena, Rimini and Ravenna and for its traditional food: fish from the sea, meat from the hills, wine and oil, strutto and tortellini.

Coming back to the Piadina, you can’t mistake it with other types of good flat bread as pitta bread, fajitas, naan bread. You can eat the piadina with a selection of Italian cured meats (coppa, salame, mortadella, prosciutto crudo, pancetta, bresaola) or with different types of cheese as squaccherone, robiola, asiago, and so on.

Now the recipe for one of the yummiest flatbread ever!! For 4 or 6 persons, you will need: 1 kg (2.2 lb) of white flour (Italian “00” flour or equivalent), a heaped teaspoon of salt for seasoning, 100g (4 oz) pork lard and 15 g (½ oz) of baking powder.

First, you should put the flour on a flat board and make a well in the centre. After you should put the salt into the well and spread the baking powder onto the flour. Important will be to put all the lard (in Italy it is the “strutto”) into the well. If you have the lard in the freezer, take it out the night before!

Ok, back to our recipe: take some hot water and pour a very small quantity of it onto the lard: with one hand work this in order to melt it completely.

After all the lard is melted, start working the dough. Remember not to use water unless you feel it is absolutely necessary to work in all the flour.

The dough externally should be smooth, not too soft, not too hard. Then, wrap the dough in a old and clean cloth or in a tea towel, and soon after just put it in a plastic bag  to rest for half an hour.

It should look smooth and white when you take it to work again. Break in smaller balls  and start to flatten this amount of dough with a rolling-pin.

Work the dough trying to turn the medallion clockwise when rolling, to ensure that all the sides are at the same thickness.

The piadina is ready to be cooked!!!!!!!!!!!! Make sure that the surface is flat and smooth and use a flat pan. You should put the pan on the cooker when it is very hot, you will put the piadina. At this stage it may rise a bit or a few bubbles. Fork the bubble, so the surface will be flat.

When the bottom surface turns into a kind of not uniform light brown colour , turn the piadina on the other side and voilà! The results is a  Italian delicious dish!!!!

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