I have a new favorite form of bread. It's called Piadini, and it's sort of reminiscent of a pita pocket. It is a traditional bread from the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Using only a handful of ingredients that I generally have on hand anyway, and taking about 2 minutes to cook, it's now on my list of things to make all the time.
While I was making Piadini the first time, I was brainstorming all of the ways that I wanted to eat it. Here are just a couple of the ones I came up with: You could serve it with prosciutto or salami and cheese, or olives, or some good olive oil infused with rosemary and garlic, or roasted red peppers, or a great tapenade, or a great pesto, or tomatoes with mozzarella, basil, olive oil and olives (like a bruschetta topping), or hommus (If you are my dear friend, Shannon). You could make it into a sandwich by folding in any ingredients you want, though I prefer chicken, roasted red peppers, mozzarella, and pesto as I've mentioned before. You could throw some marinara sauce and mozzarella on it, throw it in the oven and make a mini pizza out of it. The possibilities with this one are endless!
Piadini
Adapted from Learn to Cook 101
-makes 10-12-
Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup mixture of half milk, half water
Up to 1/2 cup extra water
Process:
- Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Create a well in the bottom of the dry ingredients and pour in the olive oil and milk/water mixture. Using a fork, begin to mix the dough. Gradually add more water as needed.
- When the dough has come together, form it into a ball. Knead it on a lightly floured surface for about 10 minutes. Let the dough rest for about 30 minutes.
- Divide the dough into small balls about the size of a plum. You should get 10-12 pieces. Use a rolling pin to roll out each ball to about 1/8 inches thick.
- Heat a pan over medium heat. When the pan is hot, put one of the piadini into the pan. Cook for about 30 seconds and then flip. Continue cooking for 2-3 minutes, flipping several times throughout. It will puff up during this process, so don't worry. When finished, the piadini will have brown scorch marks all over it. Repeat with the other piadini. Serve hot.
Ryan's rating of Piadini - 3.5
Any other suggestions for how to use piadini?
I don't think I've ever heard of anything like this in Italian cooking. Thanks for clueing me in!
Posted by: Jeanne | 10/07/2009 at 01:45 PM
Glad Im not the only one! There has been a ton of stuff so far that I didnt realize was Italian food. Its interesting to go beyond the typical Italian food that you find here.
Posted by: Sue | 10/07/2009 at 01:48 PM
Hummus, Shan! Woohoo
Posted by: Jeanne | 10/07/2009 at 02:24 PM
Yessss. This is right up my alley. Tapas, ladies? This one is so versatile. I love it!
Posted by: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=14311367 | 10/07/2009 at 04:29 PM
I made these this weekend for fajitas! They came out so good! Thanks!
Posted by: Kate | 11/10/2009 at 09:24 PM
What a great idea, Kate! Ill have to try that next time I make this. Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: Sue | 11/12/2009 at 10:40 AM
Nice work .Thanks for the share. Keep up writing so that we can get more informative recipe like this one.
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