Piadina

The thin griddle bread of Romagna, made with lard and a little baking soda, cooked in a hot skillet and folded around soft cheese and dressed arugula.

Untested: not yet made in this kitchen. It is here for the Flatbreads section and is adapted from the source named in the Notes.

Ingredients

Bread

• 245 g (1¾ cups) all-purpose flour
• ¾ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt (half by volume if table salt)
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 3 tablespoons lard (or shortening)
• 120 ml (½ cup) whole milk, warm (see Notes)

Olive oil, for the skillet

Filling

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper

• 225 g (1 cup) stracchino or stracciatella, or two 4-ounce burrata, halved
• 115 g (4 cups) arugula

Directions

1. Dough. Whisk the flour, salt and baking soda. Pinch in the lard until pea-sized. Add the warm milk and stir to a shaggy dough; knead 3–5 minutes. Cover and rest 20 minutes. Divide into 4, ball, and rest 20 minutes more.
2. Roll. Pat each ball to 5 inches, then roll to a thin 10-inch circle. Prick it about 8 times with a fork.
3. Hold. Heat the oven to 250 °F to keep the breads warm.
4. Cook. Heat an empty 12-inch cast-iron or stainless skillet over medium-high until a drop of water sizzles, 2–4 minutes. Brush lightly with oil. Cook a piadina about 30 seconds, until spotty and bubbled; flip and cook about 30 seconds, until puffed and spotted. Keep warm in the oven.
5. Fill. Dress the arugula with the oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Spread cheese over half of each warm piadina, leaving a ½-inch border, top with arugula, and fold in half.

Notes

Source Adapted from Katie Leaird, “Piadina (Italian Flatbread Sandwich),” Serious Eats — the only complete piadina recipe found.

Two corrections to the source The source prints the milk as “½ cup (355 ml).” Those disagree: ½ cup is about 118 ml, 355 ml is 1½ cups. For 245 g of flour, ½ cup is the plausible amount, so this recipe uses it — add a little more only if the dough will not come together. The source also gives the lard as “3 tablespoons (20 g)”; 3 tablespoons of lard weighs nearer 38 g. It likewise describes the rolled bread both as “¼ inch” and as “cardstock” thin; a summary of the Romagna protected specification gives 5–10 mm for the standard piadina and 2–3 mm for the thinner Rimini style.

Tradition Traditionally cooked on a terracotta testo from Montetiffi; cast iron is the usual substitute. The Piadina Romagnola IGP allows lard or olive oil.

The Flatbreads section of the Breads pages on the Food site covers the history, the science and the griddles.

The photo The photo shows a piadina folded around ham, cheese and cabbage rather than this recipe’s soft cheese and arugula.