Piadina Romagnola with Mortadella and Stracchino and a Barilla Cooking Class

Over the weekend, I was invited by Barilla Australia to one of their Hands-on Cooking Classes at Casa Barilla, here in Sydney.  The class was about food from Emilia Romagna, home of many iconic Italian products like Parmigiano Reggiano, Prosciutto di Parma, Balsamic Vinegar and Mortadella, to cite just a few.  It is a true foodie heaven and one of my favourite places to visit!

Executive Chef Andrea Tranchero taught us how to make Tortellini with Prosciutto di Parma, Pumpkin Sauce and a Balsamic Reduction, and Piadina Romagnola with Mortadella and Stracchino cheese.

Both dishes were delicious and we had great fun learning and replicating them in couples at Casa Barilla’s kitchen.

I was particularly impressed with the Piadina though and, as the people at Barilla were kind enough to give us the recipe, I thought I should share it on the site too.  I already have a couple of recipes for Piadina on the site… my friend Marco’s thicker version is still one of my favourite flat bread recipes of all time.  Today’s post instead is about a delicious thin piadina.  We filled it with sun dried tomato paste, mortadella, stracchino cheese and rocket and it was absolutely amazing!  This piadina is quite pliable and does not crack when you fill it and close it.  I also liked the use of clarified butter instead of oil or lard as it made the bread lighter both in taste and consistency.  A true delight!  Don’t forget to check out my other Regional Italian Recipes!  Enjoy and thank you Barilla for having us over!

0 from 0 votes

Print

Piadina Romagnola with Mortadella and Stracchino and a Barilla Cooking Class

The recipe for a delicious Piadina Romagnola filled with Mortadella, Sun dried Tomato paste, Rocket and Stracchino and a Barilla Cooking Class.

Course: Main

Cuisine: Italian

Prep Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours 35 minutes

Author: Recipe courtesy of Barilla Australia

Ingredients

• 500 gms – 4 cups flour either 00 or plain
• 200 ml – 4/5 cup water warm
• 80 ml – 1/3 cup milk
• 40 gms – 2.5 tbsp clarified butter/ghee or 80 gms – 5 tbsp lard
• 4 gms – ¾ tsp fresh yeast or 1.5 gms – ¼ tsp dry yeast
• 20 gms – 1 tbsp sugar
• 20 gms – 1 tbsp honey
• 10 gms – ½ tbsp salt
• 100 gms – 3.5 oz. rocket/arugula
• 4 tbsp Sun dried Tomato paste
• 200 gms – 7 oz. Mortadella thinly sliced
• 150 gms – 5 oz. Stracchino cheese or Squacquerone cheese

Instructions

1. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water with the sugar and honey.
2. Put the flour, clarified butter, milk and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the hook attachment.
3. Add the yeast mixture to the bowl and knead for a few minutes, until you obtain a smooth and pliable dough. Cover it and let it rise for 2 hours.
   
4. Divide the dough into 8 balls, then roll each ball into a 2 mm – 0.1 inch circle.
   
5. Heat a non stick frying pan or a cast iron pan over medium-high heat.  When hot, add your first piadina and cook it until dark spots appear (it will take about 1 minute).  Then flip it over and while it is cooking on the other side spread the sundried tomato paste on one half, add the stracchino cheese, mortadella and rocket.
6. Once it has cooked on the other side, close it in half and remove from the fire.
   
7. Cut in half and serve immediately!

Recipe Notes

You can make unfilled piadine ahead of time.  Cover them in cling wrap and reheat them in the frying pan.  Add the filling, close and serve.

Disclaimer: I was invited to attend the class by Barilla Australia, but this is not a sponsored post and all opinions are mine only.