By popular demand, here is my recipe for flatbread without lard, or oil-based flatbread.
Many of you have asked why I don’t have a recipe for flatbread without lard on the blog, especially since I love vegetarian cooking so much. The reason is – it seems strange, but it’s really true – that I rarely make flatbread with oil, practically never.
You already know, for me, the recipe for flatbread is not just a recipe of the Romagna tradition, but a real food of memory. One of those essential cornerstones to which the simple definition of original Romagna recipe does not do justice.
For years I have had a personal feeling that the ‘real’ flatbread only existed back then when it was made only with lard and cooked only on the griddle, the tripod in the fireplace, or on the economical stove after removing the right number of rings and placing the griddle in their place… Maybe it’s not quite like that, but inside me, that’s how it is, that’s how I live it. Flatbread as a symbol of an era. Nothing to do with the Romagna flatbread that everyone knows, we know, now. Not to mention the fact that many of us now have to deal with induction cooktops, the final confirmation of my ‘personal feeling’ above.
In my culinary evolution, there is a before, made of traditional, regional, family, memory recipes, recipes to which I am very attached (as everyone is attached to those of their past), and there is an after, where my way of cooking and eating has changed. Both important. Flatbread is part of the before.
In my house, the word flatbread implicitly means ‘with lard.’ There is no specification; it is part of it; it is implied. And therefore, I don’t make oil-based flatbread frequently because it’s not automatic for me. It’s an imprinting. When I don’t have, or can’t get from my mom, the lard (because ‘you don’t buy it at the supermarket,’ it must be homemade, it’s a dogma), I make something else. Focaccia, pitas, balloon breads, pseudo-flatbreads with sourdough excess, not flatbreads.
Not that flatbread without lard didn’t exist, even back then. Yes, it existed, but it was an exception, in fact, it was a fallback. In my childhood memories, it existed sporadically, only when the lard was finished (and it was a serious sacrifice).
I have a clear memory, a precise scene: me, a 5-6-year-old child, in the kitchen – the old kitchen, the one with the table with a side hole for the rolling pin – with my mom, who is about to make flatbread for dinner while I watch her, as I almost always do. I see her pouring oil into the well of flour, and I ask, ‘why are you using oil today?’ A question that may seem trivial, but it isn’t: flatbread without lard was such a heresy that five-year-old me wanted to know why. Mom’s answer: tonight we don’t have bread, and the lard is finished.
Why specify that the bread (at the time it was bought every morning) is finished? And why specify that the lard is finished?
Simple: because at the time, flatbread was not a so-called typical dish, it wasn’t a recipe for summer tourists, and it wasn’t street food (not at all, for me the ‘real’ flatbread will never be street food). It was bread. Flatbread was the main substitute for bread (crackers? sliced bread? not at all).
It was made every time ‘we ran out of bread,’ or every time the fridge was half-empty, but there were always two lettuce leaves and two slices of ham (there was always a small stock of cured meats from January onwards). And by making flatbreads, a dinner without bread became a real dinner.
In short, the current concept of I’m making a flatbread because I’m in a hurry was nonexistent. Meals were always a serious matter to be consumed sitting at the table, never rushed. And flatbread was among the serious things, because it had to be made, meaning kneaded, rolled out, and cooked, not just taken out of a bag and off you go. Meanwhile, the ham was taken out and thinly sliced with a knife, also not taken out of a bag and off you go.
Once cooked, all the flatbreads – from the path of kneading, a certain quantity was made, so it could be eaten the next day, dry, as a snack – were placed (folded in half or quartered) in a basket covered with a napkin to keep them warm, a basket that was brought to the table in place of the bread basket.
In all this, the option of oil-based flatbread was nonexistent, there was no doubt about what the priority ingredient was. Only in one case could the ingredients of flatbread be a topic of conversation, when during dinner someone (i.e., dad) would come out with: tonight the flatbread is different. And mom: oh well, we ran out of lard!
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👇 My other traditional recipes: 👇
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Affordable
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 5-6 flatbreads
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian Regional
- Region: Emilia-Romagna
- Seasonality: All Seasons
Ingredients
- 3.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 0.25 cup mild extra virgin olive oil (or vegetable oil)
- 3 oz water
- 3 oz milk
- 1 pinch salt
Tools
- Bowl
- Fork
- Kneading Board
- Rolling Pin
- Cast Iron Pan
Steps
Pour the flour into a bowl (or directly onto the kneading board) and make a well in the center.
Pour the oil, then add the milk and water (+ the pinch of salt, if used).
👉 My mom used half milk and half water, but you can use all water (as in the lard version), especially if using extra virgin olive oil. Vegetable oil usually makes the flatbread drier, which is why milk is added: to compensate for the tendency to dry out typical of flatbread with oil compared to that with lard.
Briefly work by hand and then transfer the mixture to the kneading board.
☝ It’s important to note that the quantities of water and milk are indicative (they may vary by 10 or 20 grams) because, as always, the absorption of flour can vary. I made this recipe 3 times before deciding to write it down and never used the same weight of water and milk. As with flatbread with lard and all doughs in general, working by intuition remains the best.
Knead by hand until you obtain a well-mixed but rough dough, there’s no need to refine it too much.
Let the dough rest covered with the bowl for at least half an hour (or up to a few hours if desired).
Divide the dough into small loaves and roll them out with a rolling pin to obtain a thin dough disk.
The number of flatbreads obtained depends on how large (and thin) you want to make them (Rimini-style flatbread is large and thin). With the ingredients of this recipe, you get 5-6 flatbreads.
Place the griddle (or pan, or non-stick plate) on the heat to warm up.
👉 As already described in the traditional flatbread recipe, the so-called Romagna griddle – which in many areas is made of terracotta, in others of cast iron, here we call it teggia, and it is made of iron – has now been replaced by non-stick plates (multi-use, also usable for cooking vegetables or other) similar to crepe pans.
☝ Once the plate is heated, cook the flatbreads over medium heat, or adjust the flame if necessary, to prevent the flatbread from burning on the surface.
Place a flatbread on the plate. As it heats up (in a minute or a little more), bubbles form, which should be pierced with a fork to prevent them from puffing up too much. Don’t leave the flatbread still, move it constantly to prevent it from burning on the back of the bubbles.
Check the cooking by lifting a corner with a fork, then flip the flatbread and cook it on the other side, always rotating it.
In 3-4 minutes, the flatbread is cooked. Be careful not to overcook it, or it will dry out.
Here it is, the flatbread without lard cooked to perfection. 😊
All that’s left is to fold it in half and serve it immediately. It’s delicious. Even without lard, it’s delicious, I must say. 😊
No Salt Tips
For my usual no salt tips, I can only repeat what I explained in the traditional lard flatbread recipe: since mom obviously adds a pinch of salt, even in this recipe I decided to list it among the ingredients to respect mom’s original recipe, even though this oil version is occasional for her, as I told you. If you are used to a low-sodium diet like me, I’m sure you won’t feel the need to add salt even here. 😊
If you are interested in reducing or eliminating salt, always remember to:
▫ Reduce salt gradually, the palate must get used to it slowly and should not notice the progressive reduction.
▫ Use spices. Chili pepper, pepper, curry, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, cumin…
▫ Use aromatic herbs. Basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, mint…
▫ Use seeds. Sesame, pine nuts, almonds, walnuts…
▫ Use spicy vegetables or fruits. Garlic, onion, lemon, orange…
▫ Use my salt-free vegetable granules and gomasio.
▫ Prefer fresh foods.
▫ Avoid cooking in water, prefer cooking methods that do not disperse flavors (griddle, parchment, steam, microwave)
▫ Avoid bringing the salt shaker to the table!
▫ Occasionally allow yourself a break from the rule. It lifts your mood and helps you persevere.
If you can’t, or don’t want to, give up salt:
▫ You can still try my recipes by salting according to your habits.
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FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Can flatbread be cooked on induction cooktops?
The answer is yes, using a pan suitable for induction. But what I would give to show my grandmothers an induction cooktop and get their opinion on the flatbreads I cooked at my mom’s just a few nights ago!
In the new house, my mom has an induction cooktop and also the specific ‘Romagna griddle for induction’ (from a well-known brand), but I must say, yes, we cooked them, but with results I would describe as difficult. The plate never manages to heat up properly despite the maximum temperature level of the stove, and therefore the cooking time for each flatbread doubled (and thank goodness we make the flatbreads thin).
Furthermore, induction focuses the heat only at the center of the plate, so our typical wide Rimini flatbreads suffered a lot at the edges. Next time we’ll try making smaller flatbreads.
Of course, not all cooktops are the same, but I can report that even my daughter and my sister-in-law, who have different induction cooktops than my mom’s, have experienced the same problem, even using different plates or regular non-stick pans.
We will also try other types of plates or pans until, I’m sure, we find one that allows us to remain as faithful as possible to tradition. 🤗
