La Piadina: Italian Flatbread

La Piadina is a soft and fluffy Italian flatbread that can be filled with anything you like from cured meats, cheese and grilled veggies. So good, easy to make and yeast free, suited to lunch or a snack!

La Piadina Romagna is a soft and good flatbread from Emilia-Romagna, traditionally made with lard (although this recipe uses olive oil) and cooked on terracotta.

It's something we ate all the time in Italy for lunches or for taking on picnics, it's so good!

The thing is, we soon discovered that the Piadina flatbreads sold in bars or sandwich shops are completely different from those sold in supermarkets, which were often dry and tasteless.

And because we wanted to make them at home, the solution was to come up with an Italian flatbread dough that was soft, good, and that wrapped around the filling perfectly without cracking!

This is the recipe that we've been using for years now, and it works every time!

If you love Italian snacks like this, try our Schiacciata di Patate a crispy potato flatbread that's good!

Ingredients you need

All you need is a few store cupboard ingredients: flour, water, olive oil, baking powder and salt. See the photo below that shows all the ingredients you need.

How to make Piadina Italian Flatbreads – step by step

Add the flour, baking powder and salt to a bowl, stir so everything is evenly mixed through (photo 1).

Make a well in the flour and add the water and olive oil. Stir everything together to form a dough (photos 2-4).

Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead to form a smooth ball (make sure not to over-knead the dough it only takes a minute or so).

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap (cling film) and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes (photo 5).

Pre-heat a large round skillet or frying pan on the stove. Divide the dough in four and roll each piece into a thin round flatbread shape (don't worry if they aren't perfectly round) (photos 6-8)

Heat each flatbread one at a time on the skillet, once it's puffed up and looks golden turn it over and cook on the other side. It should take around 2 minutes each side (photos 9-11).

Fill each flatbread with your desired fillings and fold in half (photo 12).

Filling ideas

Filling options are endless when it comes to Italian flatbreads you can get creative and choose whatever you like; here are some of our favourites that you could try.

• Prosciutto, mozzarella, tomato
• Mozzarella, tomato and homemade pesto
• Grilled zucchini or eggplant, mozzarella and red pepper flakes
• Tuna mixed with mayonnaise, tomato, mozzarella or smoked scamoza, arugula (rocket)
• Mortadella and burrata
• Mortadella and Insalata Russa (Russian Salad)

Top tips and recipe FAQs

• Using cups – If you're using cups to measure the flour spoon it into the cups instead of scooping or it'll be too tightly packed. Lightly level off any excess flour.
• Baking powder – you can leave the baking powder out if you need to we've made these many times without it and they are still good it helps lighten the dough slightly.
• Rolling out – make sure you dust your work surface lightly with flour and that there's not too much excess on the flatbreads before cooking.
• To keep them soft – place the Piadina flatbreads on a plate and wrap them with a clean kitchen towel to help keep them soft. This is a great tip if you're making them in advance.

What's the best flour to use?

We love to use Italian 00 flour for making these and it's what's traditionally used but you can also use all-purpose flour which we've tried and tested and it works great.

Can we prepare this in advance?

It's best to let the Piadina dough rest for at least 30 minutes before using but you can make it a couple of days in advance and store it in the fridge.

Can we freeze flatbread dough?

Yes, raw flatbread dough can be wrapped in plastic wrap then aluminium foil and frozen. Thaw completely before using.

More Italian lunch and snacks to try

• Gnocco Fritto (Italian Fried Dough)
• Mozzarella in Carrozza – Fried Mozzarella Sandwiches
• Eggplant bruschetta with mozzarella
• Bruschetta al pomodoro
• La Cecina – Chickpea flatbread

Ingredients

Makes 4 flatbreads

• 1.5 cups 00 flour or all-purpose flour ((200g))
• ½ cup warm water ((120ml))
• ½ tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt

Method

1. Add the flour, baking powder and salt to a bowl, stir so everything is evenly mixed through.

2. Make a well in the flour and add the water and olive oil. Stir everything together to form a dough.

3. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead to form a smooth ball (make sure not to over knead the dough it only takes a minute or so).

4. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap (cling film) and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

5. Pre-heat a large round skillet or frying pan on the stove. Divide the dough in four and roll each piece into a thin round flatbread shape (don't worry if they aren't perfectly round).

6. Heat each flatbread one at a time on the skillet, once it's puffed up and looks golden turn it over and cook on the other side. It should take around 2 minutes each side.

7. Fill each flatbread with your desired fillings and fold in half.

Kitchen notes

• Using cups If you're using cups to measure the flour spoon it into the cups instead of scooping or it'll be too tightly packed. Lightly level off any excess flour.
• Baking powder you can leave the baking powder out if you need to we've made these many times without it and they are still good it helps lighten the dough slightly.
• Rolling out make sure you dust your work surface lightly with flour and that there's not too much excess on the flatbreads before cooking.
• To keep them soft place the Piadina flatbreads on a plate and wrap them with a clean kitchen towel to help keep them soft. This is a great tip if you're making them in advance.