Vegan & Gluten-Free
Piadina is a kind of flatbread originally from the region of Emilia Romagna in Italy.
The classic version is made from plain white flour and lard, which makes it unfortunately non-vegetarian. However, nowadays you can easily find piadina that is kneaded with olive oil instead of lard.
I made it gluten free using buckwheat flour, which in Italy we call Grano Saraceno (a curious choice of name as "Saraceno" means Arab in our language, but buckwheat actually comes from the Far East - China, Manchuria and Siberia). The flour has a wonderful nutty smell and is easier to work with compared to other gluten-free grains.
We had the Piadina alongside this gorgeous Italian spread:
Buckwheat & Olive Oil Piadina (recipe below)
Sicilian baked black olives
Vegan camembert (an amazing find from a local organic grocer)
"Capuliato", a kind of "mince" made of sun-dried tomatoes preserved in olive oil with fennel seeds and chilli
Rocket leaves
Walnuts
For the Buckwheat & Olive Oil Piadina:
Ingredients (for 8 small piadina, or 4 large ones)
200g buckwheat flour
100ml cold water
40ml extra virgin olive oil
5g salt
5g soda bicarbonate
Mix all ingredients to a smooth dough. The dough will be a bit stiff and crumbly so just be patient. Rest the dough covered for 30 minutes.
Knead again briefly, then divide into equal sized balls. Knead each to about 3mm thick rounds and bake on a griddle or pan on each side until you see the nice brown speckles. Enjoy with your favourite filling.
These can also be made in larger batch and used after couple of days. Just make sure to keep them in a dry place or they may develop fungus easily.
Word of the Day
Farina
(flour, pronounced fa-ree-na)
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