Piadina is a traditional Sammarinese recipe (bease on an original from Emilia-Romagna) for a classic flatbread made from a blend of flour, lard, olive oil, milk and water leavened with baking soda that can be served with various toppings. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Sammarinese version of: Piadina Romagnola.
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This is a Sammarinese (from San Marino) classic that originated in neighbouring Emilia-Romagna, Italy. These flatbreads are typically served stuffed, with the most classic stuffing being Parma ham with Squacquerone (a fresh, tart and spreadable cow’s milk cheese) along with rocket (arugula).
Ingredients:
500g (4 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
75g (2 ¾ oz) lard from rendered pork fat (called “strutto” in italian), melted
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
150ml (4/5 cup) whole milk
Up to 100ml (1/2 cup) water
Method:
Combine the lard (if using), flour and salt in a bowl then mix in the milk, olive oil (if used) and baking soda. Mix in half the water then add enough of the remaining water to bring everything together as a dough. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until quite smooth, uniform, soft but no sticky (if it’s sticky add more flour). Form into a ball, then cover with clingfilm (plastic wrap) and set aside to rest for at least 30 minutes at room temperature (if the dough is being prepared more than 1 hour in advance, you can keep it in the fridge and when needed remove it 1 hour before using it).
Heat a Montetiffi (a clay pan characteristic of Emiglia-Romana) or, alternatively, a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat if you’re eating piadina immediately. Divide the dough ball into about 6 pieces (about 140-150g each).
Working with one piece at a time, place a dough ball on a floured work surface and with a floured rolling pin into a circle about 4mm (1/6in) thick. If you’re making large quantities of this recipe or want to rolled out piadina few hours in advance, I suggest you to stack up the rolled out dough on a baking tray and pacing a sheet of baking paper between each piadina.
Once your pan is hot, add the first raw piadina, prick it all over with a fork, to avoid air bubbles and cook for about 2-3 minutes, or until brown spots form on the bottom. After this time, flip the flatbread over and cook for about the same time on the other side.
As the padina should be served hot, it’s best if you have your choice of fillings already to hand. Once cooked you can serve piadina immediately by placing your desired filling on a half and then close to a half moon or cutting it into triangles to use as a bread-substitute.
If you don’t serve the piadinas right away, you can stack them up, put into a well-sealed plastic bag, and keep them in the fridge for about a week or in the freezer for a couple of months. Then, when you want a quick meal just put cold or frozen piadina onto a heated pan until it’s warmed through (do not over cook).
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