If you’ve never had a Piadina you’re missing out! This Cheesy Italian Piadina with Prosciutto and Roasted Red Pepper is a great intro to the classic.
I need to have a look at my ancestry because I swear I have Italian in my blood. I’ve never been to Italy but I just feel like I would fit right it. I often like to daydream about living in a little village where I stroll down the narrow cobblestone streets every morning to buy my fresh produce for the day and have cheeky banter with the lemon farmer. Since an international move isn’t in the cards for me, I choose to live vicariously through my food, like this Cheesy Italian Piadina with Prosciutto and Roasted Red Pepper.
A Piadina is basically an Italian flatbread style sandwich that’s loaded with a savory filling. The dough is really simple and fun to make in my opinion. Traditionally it’s made with lard or butter, but I chose to use olive oil to lighten it up a tad. I filled mine with roasted red pepper ricotta, fontina cheese, and salty prosciutto for a more traditional filling, but you can choose whatever you like! A cheesy roasted veggie filling would be delicious or figs with honey. Mmmmm. I’ll definitely be trying more varieties of Piadina and I think you should experiment too. Let me know what you come up with!
- [b]For the Piadina Dough[/b]
- 16 oz all purpose flour
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3/4 cup water
- [b]For the Filling[/b]
- 1 roasted red pepper
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 8 oz ricotta cheese
- salt and pepper
- 6 oz shredded fontina cheese
- 4 oz prosciutto
- 1/2 cup basil leaves
- Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of an upright mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Add the oil and mix on low speed until incorporated — about 2 minutes. With the mixer running, slowly add water until the mixture forms a dough around the hook. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead for 5 minutes until smooth. Allow the dough to rest on the counter for 1 hour.
- Lightly flour the countertop and roll out the dough with a rolling pin until very thin, around 1/8th of an inch.
- Cut out 6-12 inch circles and poke holes in it with a fork. (I used a 6-inch cake cutter but you can adjust depending on how many you want)
- Cook each round in a dry non-stick pan over medium heat for 3-4 minutes each side.
- Combine the roasted red pepper, lemon zest, and ricotta in a food processor. Puree until red pepper is evenly combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Spread half of each Piadina with a spoonful of the ricotta mixture. Sprinkle the fontina cheese evenly over the ricotta cheese. Arrange 2 prosciutto slices on top of the cheeses and place a few basil leaves on top.
- Fold over the Piadina and eat it like a pita.
