On this occasion, we bring you the authentic recipe for Italian piadinas, famous wheat flour tortillas that are prepared and filled with multiple traditional ingredients depending on the region of Italy where they are enjoyed. If you don’t know them before, they have a circular shape and, although they resemble Mexican tortillas, the preparation is different and the dough is a little thicker.
The best thing about these piadinas is that they do not need an oven or long rise times or sourdough. Since it only contains baking soda, you won’t need more than 15 minutes of rest to have them ready to enjoy for lunch. Do you dare to prepare them? Find out how to make Italian piadinas super-fast!
Ingredients to make Italian Piadinas:
• 250 grams of common wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 dessert spoon of baking soda
• 60 grams of olive oil or lard
• 150 milliliters of water
How to make Italian Piadinas:
Prepare the dough for piadinas in a deep container. Pour the flour, salt and baking soda into the container and stir so that all the flour is impregnated. Next, add the oil, mix well again and, finally, slowly add the water while stirring and checking the texture that the dough acquires. Once you can handle it with your hands, you will not need to add more water.
Tip: Add more water if you see that the dough is very dry.
You can see that the dough comes off the walls of the container, now you can knead it on the kitchen bench if you wish. Knead the dough 5 minutes until the dough softens and becomes smoother. Once you see that the dough has the perfect consistency, make a ball and leave it inside a plastic bag or covered with a clean kitchen towel. Reserve 15 minutes.
Take the ball out of the piadina dough, you will see how smooth the texture is when you handle it. Leave it on the kitchen bench and make a kind of elongated round bar, try to make it the same in all its parts. Cut equal pieces to obtain 4 pieces of about 22 cm in diameter. Work the dough with a rolling pin and flatten each piece to give it a circular shape. When the dough is well worked it is easier to handle, just try to make it thin but not too thin.
Trick: It is recommended that you impregnate the table with a little flour to facilitate the work.
Heat a large, non-stick skillet, do not add anything to the skillet. The heat will toast the outside of the Italian piadina, so deposit the dough and shake the pan in circles without touching it other than to flip it. Cook 3 minutes on each side. Once the Italian piadinas are golden brown and tender inside, you can fill it with the ingredients that you like the most. For example, it is very typical to fill them with arugula, ham, Parmesan cheese, tomato and many other ingredients, you choose!
Fillings for Italian piadinas
In a short period of time, the piadina has risen to a very high position in Italian gastronomy, perhaps due to its speed and simplicity when preparing it. Although it is a simpler bread base than pizza, it is a very versatile preparation and its fame continues to spread throughout the world, similar to kebabs.
They are traditional to the Emilia Romagna region, but piadinas are enjoyed throughout the country. Although the most popular way to eat them is with ham, arugula and cheese, they can be prepared with vegetables, sausages, chicken, fish, pork and other meats.
Its ingredients are usually always the same for the dough, although sometimes the lard used for it can be replaced by olive oil or butter.
Chicken piadinas can be made with a chicken marinade in herbs such as rosemary and oregano. You can also make them from salmon, pork, and other ingredients. A delicious yoghurt sauce, very typical of this preparation, will suit them very well.
They are usually served fresh because that is when they are best, but if you have any leftovers you can store them in a plastic bag in the fridge for a couple of days and put them in the oven to heat them up.
