Tigelle
Small breads from the Modenese Apennines, once baked between heated terracotta discs — hence the name. They are neither pancakes nor bread: the dough contains yeast and proves, but bakes on a dry pan, so they stay soft and slightly puffed. The point of tigelle lies in the serving: they are split hot and rubbed with a paste of lardo, garlic and rosemary, which melts from the heat of the bread.
Your own work in that: 15 min.
- Dough 15 min
- Proving 90 min
- Shaping 15 min
- Resting the discs 15 min
- Cooking 30 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneKnead a soft yeasted dough
Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk with the sugar, add the flour, water, oil and salt and knead 10 minutes into a smooth, soft dough. Milk rather than water alone gives more tender breads that brown better on a dry pan.
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour · 200 ml milk · 100 ml water · 15 g fresh yeast · 3 tbsp olive oil · 1½ tsp salt · 1 tsp sugar
Prove an hour and a half
Cover and leave 90 minutes, until doubled. Tigelle should be soft and slightly puffed — without a full prove they come out dense and rubbery, more like a flatbread than bread.
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour · 200 ml milk · 100 ml water · 15 g fresh yeast · 3 tbsp olive oil · 1½ tsp salt · 1 tsp sugar
Roll out and cut discs
Roll the dough 1 cm thick and cut 9 cm discs with a glass; knead the scraps together and re-roll until you have 16. The thickness matters: thinner they come out dry, thicker they stay raw inside, since they cook uncovered.
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour · 200 ml milk · 100 ml water · 15 g fresh yeast · 3 tbsp olive oil · 1½ tsp salt · 1 tsp sugar
Rest the discs on a cloth
Lay the discs on a floured cloth, well spaced, cover with another and leave 15 minutes. A short rest lets them recover a little puff after cutting, and they then cook more evenly.
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour · 200 ml milk · 100 ml water · 15 g fresh yeast · 3 tbsp olive oil · 1½ tsp salt · 1 tsp sugar
Well spaced under a cloth — fifteen minutes.Cook on a dry pan
Cook in batches of 4–5 on a hot dry cast iron pan, 4 minutes a side, over medium heat — all the batches take about 30 minutes in total. No fat, no lid. The breads puff slightly and take on dark spots — the sign that they are done.
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour · 200 ml milk · 100 ml water · 15 g fresh yeast · 3 tbsp olive oil · 1½ tsp salt · 1 tsp sugar
Dry pan, dark spots, four minutes a side.Make the lardo paste
Ideally earlier, while the dough proves, pound the lardo with the crushed garlic, rosemary, parmesan and pepper into a smooth white paste. Classically it is done in a mortar; a processor works too, but do not run it long or the fat warms.
Ingredients: 120 g lardo or back fat · 2 cloves garlic · 2 tbsp rosemary · 60 g parmesan · ½ tsp black pepper
Split and rub them hot
Split the hot breads and rub the inside with the paste, which melts immediately. Add prosciutto and cheese. On a cold bread the paste stays a solid layer of fat — the entire effect depends on it melting.
Ingredients: 150 g prosciutto · 150 g cheese · 100 g jam
A smooth white paste — it melts from the bread's heat.Serve at once, warm
Serve immediately, straight from the pan, in a basket under a cloth. Tigelle soften within a quarter of an hour and lose the light crispness of the crust. In Emilia they make a whole supper, with a board of cured meats and cheeses.
Ingredients: 150 g prosciutto · 150 g cheese · 100 g jam
Before you start
Crescentine or tigelle
Modena calls them crescentine, and tigelle are properly the terracotta discs they were baked between. The name of the vessel transferred to the food and both are now current — the argument over correctness is local and quite alive.
Without lardo
The lardo paste, called cunza, is the classic, but tigelle are also filled with prosciutto and cheese alone, with chocolate hazelnut spread, jam or olive paste. The bread is neutral and works both ways — savoury and sweet.
Freeze them raw
Freeze the cut discs, before their short rest on the cloth, interleaved with paper. Thaw under a cloth at room temperature for an hour and cook as usual — fresh tigelle with no kneading and no waiting for the dough to prove.
