A base that can let you make a three-course meal with it
Rooting from traditional Italy, this dish belongs to Emilia-Romagna. Breads, being a common and easily available ingredient, constitutes to form the layer of many dishes in Italy, under which meats, vegetables, cheese, etc. develop their flavours
Often consumed by Roman soldiers, Piadina is an easy dish that takes no time and little effort to make. Originally made from cereal flours, Piadina was cooked on stones and was popular during the Roman Empire
Piadina, during the Middle Ages, was consumed was peasants where modern ingredient (wheat) was not used, since wheat was expensive. Peasants used oats or barley-based flours to make Piadina, which was cooked on terracotta tiles on a wood fire.
To make your own traditional piadina at home, you need:
- All-purpose flour (1Cup)
- Salt (1 tablespoon)
- Baking soda/ Baking powder (1 and ½ teaspoon)
- Olive Oil/ Lard (2-3 tablespoons)
- Warm water/ milk (to knead)
Step 1: Take a large bowl and in all the dry ingredients, flour, salt, and baking soda. Mix it with your hand so that everything gets combined properly. Especially salt and baking soda
Step 2: Now add in Olive oil/lard (as per your variation), mix it again with your hand until everything starts to combine and remains firm if you make a ball with it.
Step 3: Now, for binding your dough, add warm water or milk and start kneading the dough. Use your hand for a better texture. Beat the dough properly and knead it properly. This might take 10minutes of kneading or knead until the dough develops a smooth texture
Step 4: Cover the dough with a cloth and let it rest for 30-45minutes
Step 5: Take some dough in your hand and start rolling out a ball from it. Form a medium-sized dough
Step 6: Start rolling out the dough with your hand or use a rolling pin. The diameter of the rolled dough should be around 10 cm or as per your preference
Step 7: Take a flat pan and on medium flame, gently put your rolled piadina. Let it cook until brown or golden bubbles start appearing at the top of your piadina. Repeat the same process by flipping your piadina and let it cook. Once it starts puffing a little, take it out of the pan.
Step 8: Repeat the same steps for making more piadinas
With so many variations, you can serve your piadina as:
- Fold it in half (like a taco and add in mayonnaise or cream-dressed vegetables
- You can also serve it with tomatoes and fresh herbs
- It can be served with scrambled eggs and soft-boiled eggs as well.
- It can be cut into halves and filled with filling, and folding it, to make it more compact
- For a sweeter version, you can coat a layer of Nutella
