Griddle Breads From Emilia Romagna Recipes

SMALL SEMOLINA GRIDDLE BREADS

Steps:

• 1. In a mixing bowl, combine the pasta flour and semolina. Add the stick of melted butter and rub the mixture together with your hands until sandy. Mix in the sugar and salt. Mix 1/2 cup of water into the dough; it should be crumbly. Let stand a few minutes, then gradually add more water until you have a soft dough, about 1 cup in all.
• 2. Transfer to a food processor and pulse 30 times to blend. The texture should now be very soft and moist. Turn the dough out onto an unfloured work surface. Using lightly buttered hands, knead it until silky, 1 to 2 minutes. Cover the dough loosely and let rest for at least 30 minutes.
• 3. Preheat a cast-iron grill or a ridged pan over medium heat. Preheat the oven to 250°F. Lightly grease the cut side of the onion with melted butter or oil and quickly rub the heated pan. Cut the dough into 12 equal pieces. On a buttered or oiled baking sheet, press out one portion of the dough into a 5-inch round. Cover loosely with plastic and repeat to form the remaining flatbreads. Grill the breads, one at a time, until they are golden and speckled with black spots, turning once; it should take 4 minutes total. Serve the breads hot off the grill, or wrap in foil and keep them warm in the oven for up to 30 minutes.
• •Darker than olive oil, with a reddish tint, argan oil will impart a rich, nutty, earthy flavor to the griddle breads. This traditional Moroccan ingredient comes from the nuts of the argan tree, which grows only in southwestern Morocco. The oil is available at www.berbersources.com and www.exoticaoils.com. Since it takes approximately 12 hours to extract a liter of oil from the nuts, it's an expensive-but inimitable-ingredient. It can also be used as a finishing oil for vegetables or lentils. •Wolfert cautions against substituting other types of flour in this recipe: The combination of fine semolina (pasta flour) and course semolina is essential to the bread's distinctive texture. Coarse semolina is available at www.kalustyans.com or from Todaro Brothers (877-472-2767 or [email protected]).

GRIDDLE BREADS FROM EMILIA-ROMAGNA

Steps:

• 1 In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add the water and lard or oil. With a wooden spoon, stir until a soft dough forms. Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough briefly until it is smooth. Shape the dough into a ball. Cover with an inverted bowl and let rest 30 minutes to 1 hour. 2 Cut the dough into 8 even pieces. Leaving the remaining pieces covered, roll out one piece of the dough into an 8-inch circle. Repeat with the remaining dough, stacking the circles with a piece of wax paper between each one. 3 Preheat the oven to 250°F. Over medium heat, heat a large nonstick skillet or pancake griddle until it is very hot and a drop of water sizzles and disappears quickly when it touches the surface. Place a circle of dough on the surface and cook 30 to 60 seconds, or until the piadina begins to firm up and turns golden brown. Turn the dough and cook for 30 to 60 seconds more, or until nicely browned on the other side. 4 Wrap the piadina in foil and keep warm in the oven while cooking the remaining dough circles in the same way. 5 To serve, place greens or slices of prosciutto, salami, or cheese to one side of a piadina. Fold the piadina over the filling and eat it like a sandwich. From "1,000 Italian Recipes." Copyright 2004 by Michele Scicolone. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.