Piadina* or Flatbread
Ingredients:
5 cups (500 grams) of unbleached flour, soft flour if you can find it
2 teaspoons (10 grams) salt
5/8 cup (70 grams) of rendered lard (or scant half cup of olive oil if you prefer)
1 1/2 cups of warm water
1.5 – 2 teaspoons (5-10 grams) of baking soda
Make a mound with the flour and scoop a well in it. Place the lard (or olive oil), baking powder and salt in the well and start to mix with the flour. Add water slowly (not all of it) until the dough is homogeneous. Mix and knead the dough into a ball until the dough is soft (this may take up to 10 minutes)
Cover the dough and let rest for a bit (20 to 30 minutes – don’t let it dry out)
Heat up a 12-inch griddle, a terracotta griddle, or if you have no choice a non-stick skillet will also work
Make balls of dough about as big as a tennis ball and roll them out into a circle 10 inches or so wide. Thickness varies, but on average they tend to be between one-eighth and one-quarter inch thick.
Place the piadina on the hot griddle — each piadina should take about 3 to 4 minutes to cook, with 2 minutes on each side (more or less). Cook each side until you see browning in spots on the surface of the piadina.
Piadina is best served warm with fresh cheese and cold cuts as a sandwich or like pita bread.
*Recipe from the cooking school at Casa Artusi in Forlimpopoli, Italy