Piadina
Today I'd like to introduce you to another staple of Italian cuisine: piadina romagnola. Now, hear me out. Getting a taste of the most authentic piadina is going to be very hard in North America as it is completely unknown, but with a few tricks, you will be able to enjoy a super close version of it. Of course if you want to have the real deal, you could make piadina from scratch. Let me know if that's the case and I'll translate that too!
Here's a history background of piadina, because food in Italy has its own story too!
Piadina has ancient origins, dating back to 800 BC when Etruscans used to prepare a batter with cereals, and would cut it in a round shape and stuff it with vegetables or sauces or used as a kind of bread. After the Roman conquest of Etruria, many recipes were incorporated in the Roman tradition and among them there was also the piadina which began to be consumed in ancient Rome in the most refined settings. Back then, the ancestor of today's piadina was consumed with a filling as desired or as a substitute of bread. Piadina stuck around even during and through the Middle Ages when, because of taxes on bread and grain portions payable to squire on duty, bread became less and less consumed. But piadina was so versatile and could be made with flour from other grains. The Renaissance marks the decline of piadina because of the new culinary trends that were developing. For many years the piadina was a simple meal for farmers and poor people who could not afford anything more, and had to make do with the products of the earth.
Piadina gets super popular once again in the 50s, when little kiosks start selling this delicious and cheap food to tourists along the seawall. And it's been going strong ever since!
Recipe for 1 piadina:
1 flour tortillas
1 ball of mozzarella
7-8 slices of Genoa salame
Pre heat a grilling pan on medium high heat. Squeeze the mozzarella ball and cut it up in small bits . When it is warm, add the tortilla and warm up a couple of minutes on each side. Once the tortilla is warm, add mozzarella on one side of the tortilla and let it cook for two minutes. Add salame and close the tortilla in half. Let it cook a couple minutes on that side and flip it so that it cooks evenly on the other side as well.
Remove from heat and enjoy!
Tips:
You can change the filling in piadina. If you keep a base of mozzarella, you can add: prosciutto and arugula; grilled veggies and bacon, arugula, grape tomatoes and pecorino; prosciutto, arugula and tomatoes... Just use your imagination! :)
I do not recommend storing leftover piadina.
