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Piadina is a specialty of the Romagna region, made of a disk of pasta that can be
substituted for bread. It can be eaten with a soft cheese (squaquarone,
a delicacy of Romagna) or with prosciutto either cotto or
crudo. Piadina is best served warm, and must be cooked on the proper flat
iron pan called a testo, on a lively flame.
How to make the piadina:
Pour the flour on the pastry board forming a cone with a cavity on the top (a
fontana in Italian, i.e. "like a fountain"). Add the strutto
and knead the dough using just enough lukewarm salted water (not hot) so
as to obtain a rather firm dough. Knead vigorously for 10 min. and
divide the dough into pieces to be rolled out or stretched by hand to
make each piadina about 8 in. in diameter.
Heat up the testo on burning coal, or on a stove, and lay on a disk of
dough (do not brush with oil). Let cook well on one side and then turn
it over; when you notice little charred bubbles forming on the disk, the
dough is ready. Continue cooking several disks of piadina in this
way, placing the ones that are ready in a pile so that they keep warm.
Serve piadina either plain instead of bread or folded over with a
filling such as: cheese, mortadella, prosciutto, or a cooked green
vegetable, such as chicory or bitter broccoli.
Note:
Piadina can also be cooked into an 8-in. round cast iron pan.
Recipe courtesy of The Italian Trade Commission.
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