Tigella is a type of bread, perfect as an accompaniment to cured sausages and cold cuts of all kinds. Soft and flavourful, the tigella appears in all sorts of rustic and tasty Italian starters.
Tigelle, also called crescentine, are small focaccia-like buns that originated in the area around Modena. Their versatility and unmistakable flavour have made them a symbol of Italian street food.
In the old days, tigelle were cooked on a special earthenware disk called a “tigella”. This disk, positioned over the fire, was perfect for cooking the tigelle which, traditionally, should be soft inside and slightly crunchy out.
Excellent on their own, tigelle are perfect for stuffing with cured meats and sausages of all kinds, like mortadella, salami or ham.
The taste of the Italian simplicity is perfectly summarized by these little rustic flavoured flat breads. The tigelle are the perfect aperitif, but you can also enjoy them as replacement of a more classic piece of bread during a typical Italian lunch.
Place the two types of flour, sieved, with the yeast and lard in the mixer bowl. turn on the mixer and blend well.
Add the oil, water and salt and continue mixing until the dough is smooth and thoroughly kneaded. Remove the dough from the mixer bowl and place it in an ordinary bowl. Cover it with a dry kitchen towel and allow to rise for two hours in a warm, draught-free environment.
Let the dough continue to rise in the refrigerator for around eight hours. Then cut the dough into small balls and cook them on both sides on the tigella plate or on a hot griddle. When they are cooked, slice open the tigelle and fill them with whatever you like.
Tigelle are often served with “cunza”, a cream made using pork fat, chopped rosemary and a few cloves of garlic, chopped.
