Gourmet piadina alla Norma. Do you love piadine and want to discover how to fill a piadina without cold cuts, or are you just looking for tasty piadina recipes, perhaps original and flavorful ones that can win everyone over, and you lack inspiration? Don’t worry — today we will prepare the Piadina alla Norma, combining two very different regional specialties in a single recipe! The piadina filled with homemade tomato sauce, fried eggplant and salted ricotta, with the addition of olive oil, basil and mozzarella will surprise you with its unique and original flavor and I assure you it will win over all your guests at the first gooey, melty bite! Let’s go to the kitchen — let’s make a truly delicious vegetarian piadina — but before turning on the stove I remind you that if you want to stay updated on all my recipes you can follow my Facebook page (here) and my Instagram profile (here).
Also see:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very inexpensive
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients to make the gourmet piadina alla Norma
- 4 piadine
- 3 eggplants (medium)
- to taste salt
- to taste high-oleic sunflower oil (for frying)
- 14 oz pizza mozzarella (of good quality)
- 2.2 lbs tomatoes (red and ripe)
- to taste basil
- to taste salted ricotta
Tools
- Frying pans
- Cast-iron griddle
- Food mill
- Bowl
- Colander
Preparation of the piadina alla Norma
Let’s start by preparing the eggplants: rinse them and choose whether to peel them or not, cut them into cubes, gather them in a bowl, sprinkle with a handful of salt and let them rest for 30 minutes.
Rinse them, squeeze them and pat them dry with a kitchen towel,
then fry them in plenty of high-oleic sunflower oil (high-oleic sunflower oil is suitable for frying — just check the label for this wording). When they are nicely golden, lift them out with a slotted spoon and place them on kitchen paper to remove excess oil.
Prepare the homemade tomato sauce.
Rinse the tomatoes, red and ripe, cut them into 4 or more pieces and put them in a large pan.
Place on the heat and cook over medium heat for 35–40 minutes.
When they are very soft and broken down, turn off the heat and pass the tomatoes through a food mill with medium holes, collecting the purée in a bowl.
Pour the purée back into the pot and cook over medium heat for about 30 minutes, or until the sauce has reduced.
Adjust the salt and, if necessary, add a level teaspoon of sugar to sweeten a sauce that is too acidic, then turn off the heat. Season with extra virgin olive oil and basil.
You can fill the gourmet piadine alla Norma.
Heat the first piadina by placing it in a hot pan for about 40–60 seconds per side, then fill with tomato sauce, mozzarella, fried eggplant, salted ricotta and basil.
Fold like a wallet and do the same for the rest. Return briefly to the pan to melt the mozzarella and brown. Serve hot or warm.
Storage and tips
I recommend filling the piadine just before serving. If you have leftovers, store them covered with cling film in the refrigerator and consume within 24 hours after reheating, but keep in mind they will become quite soggy due to the mozzarella and tomato sauce.
If you want to stay updated on my recipes, follow me also on:
Pinterest; X, YouTube and TikTok.
From here, you can return to the HOME and discover new recipes!
