For us Romagnoli, having lunch or dinner with a stuffed flatbread is more than normal, a spontaneous gesture, a consolidated habit, a meal idea inherent in us. Because the flatbread, in all its variations, is in our DNA, there is no other way to explain it. 😊
In the past, moms used to make flatbread every day, especially in the evening as it was the perfect dinner; just having some salad and a piece of cheese at home, making two quick flatbreads, and dinner was ready. It’s one of the most vivid memories I have from when I was a child: when my mom was running late preparing dinner and didn’t have time, she would send me to the ‘bottega’ (the neighborhood grocery) to buy some stracchino, while she quickly kneaded, and in no time, we were having dinner.
Now things have changed. As I told you in my homemade flatbread recipe, I am a little nostalgic for that time when flatbread was less widespread than it is now, and it was just ours. At that time, trying to make it outside of Romagna wouldn’t turn out well as it would at home; it was harder, drier, cooked poorly, because lard wasn’t always or everywhere available, because nowhere else did the ‘teggia’ exist, and people had to adapt with inadequate pans… in short, flatbread was something to be made at home only, and it belonged to us.
Now everyone knows it, everyone makes it (I was about to write everyone knows how to make it… but on this, I allow myself some distinctions, pardon me 🤫🤭), you can find it everywhere, in all bars, pubs, restaurants, and you can buy it in all supermarkets.
The pre-cooked ones found in the fridge section, despite some differences between many producers, are not bad at all and often really good. Of course, never quite the same as homemade, but good and definitely convenient when needing to prepare a quick meal, or when the kids want a more hearty snack.
This lengthy introduction of mine (but you’re used to my long introductions, right? 😊) is to explain why today I decided to participate in the Light and Tasty column (the theme of the day is single courses) with a stuffed flatbread: simply because a stuffed flatbread is for us the queen of single courses.
For it to be a single course, it cannot be filled only with ham or cheese but must also contain vegetables. Our farmers of the past taught us very well when they dined with flatbread and salad, but flatbread pairs very well with a bit of all vegetables, both cooked and raw.
One of the musts of vegetable fillings is our beloved ‘gratin’, the grilled vegetables that are never missing even in flatbread shops and which I absolutely recommend you try. And if you don’t have a flatbread shop near your home… no problem, just read this recipe of mine!! 😃
Are you hungry yet? I hope so!
Then, after you have eaten this delicious stuffed flatbread with grilled tomatoes, cooked ham, and cheese, take a look also at these other flatbread recipes of mine, a bit more alternative:
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 1
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Regional Italian
- Region: Emilia-Romagna
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients for 2 stuffed flatbreads
I put ‘grilled vegetables’ in the title even though I only used tomatoes because that’s what was available in my fridge today. 😃 But at the first opportunity, I will also add photos of a flatbread stuffed with mixed vegetables (promise!).
- 2 flatbreads (homemade, or pre-cooked)
- 4 grilled tomatoes
- 4 slices cooked ham
- 3.5 oz cheese
- Text for flatbreads
Steps
First, prepare the grilled tomatoes. My complete recipe is –> HERE
For the flatbread, if you have ten minutes to put your hands in the dough, make it at home following my homemade recipe. The recipe is obviously meant for a certain quantity, but I made a small calculation to allow you to make just two flatbreads, as planned for today:
Ingredients for 2 flatbreads: 150-160 g flour; 20 g lard; 65 g hot water; salt (optional)(*)
If you usually buy it, fine, choose your preferred one. In this case, my advice is to choose the pre-cooked one found in the fridge section (usually it is in packs of 3 or 5 pieces).
☝ I remind you that there is a disciplinary that establishes the production areas of the flatbread, and that differentiates the two types: the smaller and thicker flatbread typical of the provinces of Forlì-Cesena and Ravenna, and the flatbread (or rather, the piada) Rimini-style which is larger and thinner, typical of Rimini and Romagna south of Rimini.
This time I used two pre-cooked ones (from a Riccione laboratory).
Cook the flatbread (on the teggia or testo, or in the absence on a crepe plate), proceed with stuffing, the simplest operation of the recipe. 😊
Place the tomatoes on half the flatbread, just cooked and very hot,
add the ham and the cheese,
and immediately close the flatbread so that the cheese, in contact with the hot flatbread, can soften.
Bon appétit!!!!
🔸 You can use your preferred cheese, both soft like stracchino or squacquerone, and aged like fresh pecorino or caciotta; this time I used Asiago, which, even if not at all typical of Romagna, I like a lot in flatbread.
🔹 In the ingredient list, I indicated 2 tomatoes (i.e., 4 grilled halves) for each flatbread, but it’s an indicative number because it depends on the size of the tomatoes and personal taste in the abundance of the filling.
🔸 Instead of just tomatoes, or if you do not like tomatoes, you can use other grilled vegetables, in addition or as an alternative, such as eggplants and peppers. As mentioned above, I will update you with new photos as soon as possible.
🔹 Also great in a vegetarian version, omitting the ham and using the olive oil flatbread.
🔸 For a vegan version: use the olive oil flatbread and fill it only with the gratin, adding a legume pâté as the protein part to make it a complete single course (I suggest lupin mayonnaise or cannellini hummus).
👉 If the flatbread cools down after stuffing, no problem: just quickly reheat it on the teggia (or plate) on both sides. Be careful not to spill the filling when turning the flatbread (use a spatula).
(*)
I remind you that I cook without added salt, so my flatbreads and grilled tomatoes are cooked without salt. In the homemade flatbread ingredients, I indicate it (although optional) because salt is included in the disciplinary.As always, I leave you with the recipes of my Light and Tasty colleagues:
Carla: Savory seven-jar cake
Daniela: Corn pasta with ricotta cream, chicken, and arugula
Elena: Stewed venison with cranberries and polenta
Franca: Stuffed dogfish
Milena: Monkfish fillet with chard, cauliflower puree, and croutons
Serena: Cottage Pie
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