Piadina romagnola is one of the most appreciated examples of Italian street food, and for sure the best example of Italian flatbread. Deeply rooted in our traditions, more than one city claims to be home to the traditional piadina recipe!
If you are here, likely you already know what a piadina is and you would like to re-create at home the amazing culinary experience you had at the seaside in cities like Ravenna, Cesena, Milano Marittima, Cervia, Rimini, Riccione, Cesenatico. In this case, you are in the right place, since today I am sharing with you the traditional piadina recipe, Ravenna style!
But chances are that you have never heard of it, so…
What is piadina romagnola?
Piadina, or piada in the local slang, is the most famous Italian flatbread, originally from Romagna. Romagna is the part of the Emilia Romagna region that is touched by the Adriatico sea.
Since 2014, piadina romagnola is a PGI (Protected Geographical Indication). This means that this food originates in a specific area and is strictly linked to it. Actually, for the people from Romagna (i.e. romagnoli) piadina is a religion! It is something similar to what happens in Naples with pizza or in Genova and Bari with focaccia.
Different styles of piadina
The traditional piadina recipe I share today with you is my favorite one, in the style of Ravenna (typical of Marina di Ravenna or Cervia). In this area, the piadina is thicker, with a crumbly texture of the surface (amazing when you bite it…) and softer inside. The piadina recipe includes a very small amount of honey, that allows the piadina ravennate (from Ravenna) to be eaten the day after.
The other main style for piadina romagnola is the one of Rimini. Here the piadina is thinner and less crumbly.
Even if piadina romagnola is a PGI, the word “piadina” is used also outside Romagna. Going downwards along the Adriatico coast, the Marche region is home to another incredible example of flatbread (both sold as street food and at restaurants): the crescia, or crescia sfogliata, also known as piadina marchigiana. But this will be the topic for a new post, in which I want to mention also two incredible places where you can eat the best crescia of your life!
Are you already hungry? Save this post on your board so you won’t miss it next time you are looking for the best piadina recipe!
Traditional stuffings for piadina romagnola
Once cooked over a non-stick pan, a piadina is folded in two and stuffed with savoury or (less frequently) sweet ingredients. My favorites are:
- raw ham (prosciutto) and squacquerone, a delicious fresh spreadable cheese with a sweet, mild and slightly acidic flavour (my favorite and the one in my recipe);
- squacquerone and arugola;
- porchetta;
- sausage and greens;
- sausage and caramelized onions (ludicrous…);
- nutella.
If you are here and like street food, but you want it the Italian way, you can check also my recipes for authentic tigelle modenesi and a specialty from Naples, the panuozzo!
But now, let’s start preparing your first homemade piadina romagnola, truely Ravenna-style 🙂
Piadina romagnola
Equipment
- a bowl
- a spoon
- a chopping board or the kitchen countertop
- a rolling pin
- a large pan
- a fork
Ingredients
- 500 gr general purpose flour ('0' type)
- 50 gr lard
- 1 teaspoon honey (I use chestnut one)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder (optional, I use it)
- 110 gr milk
- 130 gr water
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- The ingredients should be at ambient temperature, so you will be able to work them better (the lard, mainly).
- In a bowl, mix the flour with the baking powder.
- Add the lard and the honey, then add the salt. Mix them.
- The milk and the water should be little bit warmer than your body temperature. Add all the milk, then slowly add the water, so that you can manage the right amount, depending on the flour you are using.
- The final result is a quite elastic dough, that will rest for 1.5 hours in a bowl covered with a plastic film.
- Put the pan on the heat. Cut the ball into 4 pieces and roll each of them with the rolling pin. The thickness should be about 3-4 mm.
- With a fork, pierce the piadina, then put it into the pan. Cook each side for 2 minutes.
- Fill according to your taste and enjoy! Here, my choice has been squacquerone and prosciutto crudo (raw ham) … heaven 🙂
Notes
- calories are for one empty piadina. Of course they rely heavily on how you stuff it…
- the ingredients will give you 4 piadine. It may be enough for 4 people.. but I strongly believe you will not be able to have just one of these 😉
Disclosure
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Buon appetito!
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