piadinas

In Italy, piadina is known as bread’s little sister. Made from the simplest of ingredients, piadina goes far back in history; in Ancient Rome it was prepared in special terracotta containers. Piadina started out as a simple, even poor dish; despite the passing of centuries, it has never undergone any variations.

Piadina is prepared today exactly as it was in the past, but while it is true that over time piadina has remained the same, its classic toppings of prosciutto, squacquerone cheese and arugula have undergone many variations. It Italy it is prepared with a wide variety of cold cuts, cheese and dressings, but always in carefully balanced proportions. Some have boldly made a sweet version with chocolate sauce, and as usual the intuition of Italian gourmets was the right one.  

Italian “fast food” tends to be much nicer than American fare. It’s common to see piadina — Italian flatbread — folded over delicious sandwich ingredients for a quick meal or snack.

Check out even more Italian recipes you can make at home.

There’s no baking required for this Italian flatbread, and it’s yeast free, so there’s not a long rise time. It’s truly an easy recipe that utilizes simple pantry ingredients.

It’s made entirely on the stovetop, which makes it a nice homemade bread to make during the hot summer months — no need to heat the oven.

I like to use my cast iron pan, but you can use any skillet you have. The trick is to get the skillet very hot before you begin cooking. Once the pan is hot, spread a very small amount of olive oil on the bottom of the pan.

Transfer an uncooked piadina to the hot skillet and allow to cook for about a minute, then flip to the other side. Cook each side a second time, for about 30 seconds each, to attain a nicely browned surface. I rolled mine out as I cooked them, transferring each flatbread to the hot skillet as I rolled it.

What I noticed about filled piadina in Italy is that unlike an American sandwich, there’s not usually any sort of spread, like mayonnaise or mustard.

Instead, these easy sandwiches are filled with high-quality meats and cheeses. A simple speck (ham) and cheese is as basic — and delicious — as it gets!

You’ll find piadina available hot or cold. A hot version is much like a Mexican quesadilla, but with ingredients like melted cheese, meats, and fresh veggies (hello, arugula!). Perhaps a drizzle of balsamic vinegar glaze as a final touch! (Watch a hot piadina made here.)

The filling options are endless, once you’ve made up a batch of easy homemade piadina. You can even smear them with baba ganoush for an easy appetizer.

Piadina, or piada, pieda, pida, or pie, according to local dialects, is a flatbread made from wheat flour typical of Romagna and the upper part of the Marche region, in particular in the Italian provinces of Ravenna, Forli-Cesena, Rimini, and Pesaro and Urbino.

Piadina looks like a thin, flattened, circular sheet and is eaten in slices or whole and stuffed to taste: cold meats, cheeses, and vegetables or jam, honey, or spreadable chocolate, like Nutella. 

Piadina Romagnola has very ancient origins. It comes from a poor and simple peasant tradition, but over the years, it has appeared on the tables of many gourmets and has achieved worldwide fame.

Currently, piadina is registered in the list of traditional Italian agri-food products (PAT) of the Emilia-Romagna region. In 2003, some associations for the promotion and protection of the Romagna piadina requested PGI certification for the two variants of this product: Piadina Terre di Romagna and Piadina Romagnola di Rimini.

The differences between the two piadina variants above concern the size: traditionally, the piadina prepared along the coast (in the area between Riccione and Rimini) is thinner and wider than that consumed inland (e.g. in the Cesena and Forli area). In further contrast, the piadina in the Pesaro area is often prepared as a puffed version, which is even tastier because it is fatter and made strictly with lard.

Piadina is the quintessential street food of Romagna. In fact, you can’t travel through Romagna without noticing the famous and characteristic chioschi, small shacks like the one pictured below, where piadina is made and sold mostly by women called piadinare.

The first to cook a rudimentary version of piadina were the Etruscans, who were the pioneers in the cultivation and processing of cereals and therefore in the production of sfarinate, which closely resembles modern-day piadina. Both are prepared without yeast and cooked on a metal or stone plate. 

Sfarinate, the rudimentary piade, continued to be also produced in ancient Rome, where they represented food for the rich, because they had to be eaten freshly cooked; already after a few hours, in fact, they became hard and unchewable. Therefore, they were not suitable for plebeians who, on the other hand, needed food that could be kept for a long time.

In the Middle Ages, there was an inversion of roles, so to speak: given that all the leavened products were the domain and exclusive preserve of the rich, simple piadinas produced without yeast and with less valuable flours, such as barley, became the food of the poor.

As cooking schools were born and gastronomy became a real art, the piadina was relegated to the corner of poor food. It was considered a “rude bread,” widespread only among the less wealthy classes who also added acorns and dried legumes to its dough to make it as nourishing and satiating as possible.

During the twentieth century, the piadina experienced its period of resurgence, initially spreading over all the Romagna tables. Then it became a street food, prepared and cooked to order in kiosks along the Adriatic coast, and therefore, thanks to tourists, it gained international fame as early as the 1950s.

Piadina is traditionally eaten with salumi (cured meats) like salami, but you can also use prosciutto, coppa, or something similar. It is also very common to serve piadina with a very soft, young cheese traditionally from Romagna, called stracchino, which is spread on the surface of the piadina and served with arugula on top. Una bonta!

One of my all time favorite quick italian dish is Piada or Piadina Romagnola (pron. pee-uh-dee-nuh), one of the most characteristic italian flatbread, known and loved in Italy and all over the world both as a street food and a comfort food. I researched for you the best authentic recipe because how Piadina is made varies from town to town, village to village so I kinda put myself as a judge and choose the winner for you.

Piadina is no doubt a typical product of the Romagna, a portion of the Emilia-Romagna region (Ravenna, Faenza, Forli, Cesena and Rimini), but it’s also widespread in the areas of Ferrara, Pesaro e Urbino province, Montefeltro and the Republic of San Marino.

It’s usually made with wheat flour, fats (extra virgin olive oil and/or lard=rendered pork fat), water and/or milk, salt and some optional leavening agents and traditionally cooked on a clay dish from Montetiffi, a village near the town of Forli, although nowadays flat pans or electric griddles are commonly used but the flavour would be less aromatic (video of the making of Montetiffi pan here or international online shop here).

(tr.: EN. “First you create the flat base, then you make the border and then the indentation… that’s the pan!” – IT. “Prima si fa il piano, dopo si fa il bordo e poi l’orecchia… ecco fatta la teglia!”).

Once cooked, these delicacies are usually stuffed with either sweet or salted and savoury ingredients such as cured meats (salumi), cheeses, greens, or Nutella cream, but one of the most popular and best-selling combination is Parma ham + Squacquerone (a fresh and soft spreadable cow’s milk cheese with a typical tart flavour) + arugula/rocket, mmmm yummy!

Wow it makes me hungry every time I think about it! Not to mention the classic “winterly” stuffing with sausage and roasted/caramelized onions… 8).

Up to 100 years ago, Piadina was a poor man’s food because was considered to be a bread substitute to which people resorted weekly between a batch of bread and the other (bread was usually cooked once a week) but during the 60s women from the countryside started to prepare and sell it on the roads of the town with a hand-cart and a beach umbrella, therefore Piadina became a real meal.

Nowadays you can find Piadina in food stands all along the Romagna coast or Romagna towns.

Pay attention that those store-brought Piadinas that you can find in supermarkets are nothing like those you can make at home or find in Romagna!

So, have you ever had the fortune to bite into a rich, crispy but soft steaming piadina filled with every kind of delicacies??? If not, well, find some time to make that at home, it’s easy! or visit Romagna and let me know if you like it!

Here I’m writing several Piadina recipes along with my favourite one because I always heard or read strong and intense discussions around the “real” or the “perfect” recipe for Piadina but the perfect recipe for Piadina does not exist.

As I’ve already explained you before, every family has their recipe so the real recipe is that one that you’ve eaten in your lifetime, the one that makes you connect to your relatives or friends.

So, in order to make you choose the right one for you, I want to explain better the differences to whom that less know the local traditions.

THE SHAPE

Starting from the south of Romagna coast Piadina is very thin (up to 3mm-1/8in) and with a large diameter (from 23cm-9in to 30cm-12in) while proceeding north along the coast and to the inside towards the hills, the flatbread become thicker (from 4mm-1/6in to 8mm-5/16in) and smaller (from 15cm-6in to 25cm-10in).

THE INGREDIENTS IN THE DOUGH

The fats: people use extra virgin olive oil for a lighter and crispier piadina or lard from rendered pork fat (called “strutto” in italian) for a more rich and soft piadina or they use a combinations of both.

The liquids: people use water or whole milk or a combination of both.

Other optional ingredients: some people use baking soda or baking powder to make the dough rise a bit or more while cooking.

If you want a crispier Piadina, choose the one without lard and no leavening agents.

Piadina Romagnola authentic italian recipe

Difficulty: easy
Preparation: 40 minutes Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 5-6 servings

Ingredients for my favourite Piadina dough (a bit thick, soft, easy to fold without cracking with a great rich and buttery taste):

General ingredients to make every kind of Piadina dough:

Instructions for all the Piadina recipes:

Combine lard (if used), flour and salt, then mix in water and/or milk, olive oil (if used), baking powder or baking soda (if used).

Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until quite smooth, uniform, soft but no sticky (if it’s sticky add more flour).

Make a ball and cover the dough with plastic wrap and let rest at least 30 minutes at room temperature (if the dough is being prepared more than 1 hour in advance, you can keep it in the fridge and when needed remove 1 hour before using it).

Heat Montetiffi pan or a non-stick pan over medium-high heat if you’re eating piadina immediately.

Divide the ball into several pieces (I suggest 5 – about 140-150gr each ball).

Roll out the dough into a circle with a rolling pin on a floured surface to the desired thickness (I like it thicker, 4mm-1/6in).

If you’re making large quantities of this recipe or want to rolled out piadina few hours in advance, I suggest you to stack up the rolled out dough by putting a baking paper sheet between each piadina until you’re ready to cook.

Once the pan is hot, add raw piadina, prick it all over with a fork to avoid air bubbles and cook for about 1-2 minutes for a thin piadina, 2-3 minutes for a thicker one or however until forming brown spots onto the bottom.

Then flip and cook for about the same time.

Remember that piadina should be served hot, so it’s recommended to have your fillings ready.

Once cooked you can serve piadina immediately by placing your desired filling on a half and then close to a half moon or cutting it as is into triangles to use as a bread-substitute.

If you don’t serve piadinas right away, you can stack them up, put into a well-sealed plastic bag, and put in the fridge for about a week or in the freezer for a couple of months and when you want a quick meal just put cold or frozen piadina onto a pan until it’s hot enough (do not over cook).

Here I give you some ideas of ingredients to put in your piadina:

The savoury:

Or the sweets:

So what’s your favourite recipe for piadina? The crispy, the soft, the thin or the thick? And what stuffing would you like to put in there?

As you can see, Piadina is a very simple recipe, tastier than other flatbreads, and you can fill it with a lot of ingredients to make it as a real meal. So that’s why piadina has earned its place in the gastronomic hall of fame, becoming one of the most loved and enjoyable italian foods.

If you are searching for a Piadina recipe made with olive oil, this is it! This no yeast Italian flatbread includes baking powder as a leavening agent. 

Once they are made, fold them around your favorite fillings like this Vegetarian Piadina Sandwich and simply enjoy them.

Piadina is a popular Italian street and festive food originating from Emilia-Romagna. Hence the name piadina romagnola.

Just like other flatbreads, it was originally considered peasant food, as only basic ingredients were required: flour, a source of fat (lard or olive oil), water and/or milk, and salt.

As is the case with most regional cooking in Italy, there are endless variations.

Although usually an unleavened flatbread, some piadina recipes will include baking powder or baking soda. This will result in a slightly thicker piadina. 

The thickness and diameter of this no yeast flatbread recipe is another characteristic that can vary.

Today, I’m sharing a piadina recipe with olive oil and baking powder.

You will quickly appreciate how easily you can make these in the comfort of your home with minimal ingredients.

In a large mixing bowl (of a stand mixer) whisk together 2 cups of all-purpose flour (284 grams) with ½ teaspoon of baking powder and ½ teaspoon salt.

Add 4 tablespoons of olive oil, ⅓ cup of lukewarm water, and ⅓ cup of lukewarm milk.

With the dough hook attachment, knead for approximately 10 minutes (the dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl). Alternatively, knead by hand.

Remove the ball of dough from bowl, place on wooden board and knead 4-5 times. Shape into a ball. The dough should be soft and smooth. 

Wrap the ball of dough with plastic wrap. There is no need to brush it with oil.

Allow the dough to rest for about 30 minutes at room temperature. Another option is to refrigerate the dough overnight. 

Divide and shape the dough into 4 balls (approximately 120 grams each).

Dust wooden board lightly with flour.

With a rolling pin, roll out each ball of dough into an 8 inch round disc -about 1/8 inch thick (or desired thickness).

Continue to roll out the other balls of dough (discs can be stacked, separate with a piece of parchment paper).

Heat a large cast-iron, griddle or non-stick pan over medium-high heat. 

Lightly brush the pan with olive oil. Add the rolled out piadina and prick with a fork to avoid air bubbles.

Cook until charring occurs, about 1- 2 minutes.

Turn over and continue to cook for an additional 1-2 minutes. 

Wrap in a clean tea towel to keep warm. Repeat with the rest of the dough. 

Serve immediately (while still warm) with your favorite fillings.

To refrigerate: Once they have cooled down, place in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days. 

To freeze: Once they have cooled down, place in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. Separate with a piece of parchment paper

To reheat: Remove piada from refrigerator or freezer and place in a large skillet over medium-low heat.  Reheat gently. 

Are you looking for more yeast free recipes for bread? This Whole Wheat Bread and this non-traditional Irish Soda Bread require no kneading and are both leavened with baking powder and baking soda. If you are looking for an unleavened bread recipe, this Quick Flatbread requires only flour, water, salt and oil. 

I’ve adapted this Italian flatbread recipe from one that I found in La Cucina Italiana. 

When I first got married, my husband gifted me a wonderful subscription to this Italian food magazine.

At the time, I wasn’t sure if it was because he truly understood how much I enjoyed cooking or if he was hinting that my culinary skills could use some improving 🙂

Nevertheless, something worked, because after 35 years, he is still my official recipe taster and pot washer, so it’s all good.

As far as the changes are concerned, I simply substituted the lard with olive oil.

The olive oil creates a piadina with a lighter and crispier texture whereas the lard (or even butter) will create a softer, denser texture.

The original proportions of the ingredients are 500 grams of flour; 250 grams of water; and 50 grams of lard. Of course, there is the pinch of salt and baking powder.

I do hope you get a chance to try this piadina recipe.

THANKS SO MUCH for following and being part of the She Loves Biscotti community where you will find Simple & Tasty Family-Friendly Recipes with an Italian Twist.

Ciao for now,

★★★★★ If you have made this Piadina Bread, I would love to hear about it in the comments below and be sure to rate the recipe!