Crescione (stuffed flatbread) – Italian recipe (VIDEO)

The crescione is a popular street food, similar to piadina, filled with a variety of tasty ingredients… great to enjoy with friends or family!

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Start with the dough: first of all, dissolve the salt in the water. You can use this dough for piadina, too: the difference is that the piadina is cooked, then stuffed, or at most warmed up with the filling, whereas the crescione is stuffed, then cooked, with the filling, on a non-stick pan. Water and salt, lard and baking soda; now bring the dough together. Some people replace lard with olive oil. Knead until it forms a smooth dough. Perfect, now wrap in cling film and allow to rest in a cool place for half an hour.

Move on to the first filling: put the oil and the chopped onion in a pan and slowly cook over a very low heat for at least 10-15 minutes, until soft but not brown; then add the spinach and chards. In this pan, brown the crumbled sausage. Cover with a lid and cook until soft. While the sausage is browning, mash the potatoes: the potatoes have been boiled with the skin on, then peeled, and now press them through a potato ricer. Meanwhile, prepare the third filling: tomato puree, or canned peeled tomatoes if you prefer, a pinch of salt, a little oil, a handful of oregano. Tomato and mozzarella, that has been cut into cubes and placed in a sieve to drain, or it will release the extra liquid during cooking. The sausage is cooked, so add to the mashed potatoes. Our three fillings are ready!

Divide the dough into 12 portions, about 2 ⅓ oz (65 g) each. Flatten each piece into a round shape, then roll it out into a thin circle, about 1 mm thick and 8 inches (20 cm) in diameter. Now add the filling: start with the chopped spinach and chard mixture… lightly brush the edges with water, fold it over and seal with the tines of a fork. Take the second filling, sausage and potatoes; brush the edges with water and fold it over. Be careful not to pierce the dough or the filling will leak out. Now the third filling: tomatoes and mozzarella. Be careful especially with this filling, because it’s liquid. They are ready for cooking, repeat to assemble the remaining crescioni.

It’s time to cook: heat a crepe pan until hot, it’s called testo in Emilia Romagna region and add 2 crescioni. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, until golden brown, like this. Once golden brown on one side, flip it over and cook for another couple of minutes. And while I’m cooking the crescioni, let’s see together the ingredients needed for this recipe!

Ingredients
for 12 crescioni
For the dough
– 4 cups (500 g) of all-purpose flour
– ⅓ cup (75 g) of lard
– ½ tsp (2 g) of baking soda
– 1 tsp (6 g) of salt
– just under 1 cup (200 ml) of lukewarm water

For the spinach and chard filling
– ½ lb (250 g) of spinach
– ½ lb (250 g) of chards
– 1 large onion
– 1 ⅓ tbsp (20 g) of extra virgin olive oil
– 1 pinch of salt
– pepper to taste

For the sausage and potato filling
– 14 oz (400 g) of potatoes
– 7 oz (200 g) of luganega-type sausage
– 1 pinch of salt
– pepper to taste

For the tomato and mozzarella filling
– ¼ lb (125 g) of mozzarella
– less than 1 cup (200 ml) of tomato puree
– 1 ⅓ tbsp (20 g) of extra virgin olive oil
– 1 handful of dried oregano
– 1 pinch of salt