I like to experiment with traditional Italian recipes. This recipe is from Modena. The Crescentine, commonly called Tigelle, are typical focaccia from Modena, prepared with a mixture of flour, lard, yeast, and water. These scones are perfect with cold cuts: pancetta, salami, mortadella, coppa and lardo. They are also excellent with cheese, honey, and fruit, or as in this recipe with broad bean and lard pesto. Here is my version prepared on Ghisanativa.

Ingredients

• 400 g of “00-type” flour with a good protein content on the label. Today I used Petra Bio 1110 white wheat flour
• 5 g dried brewer’s yeast
• 150 g water
• 130 g milk
• 15 g sugar
• 4 g salt (1 level teaspoon)
• 20 g lard

Note: if you are vegetarian and do not eat pork fat, you can replace the lard with an equal weight of extra virgin olive oil.

Preparation methodology

Mix the flour with the yeast, water, milk and sugar. Only then do you add the salt and lard.

The salt, in addition to making the dough harder to work, does not get along with the yeast and compromises a good part of the leavening if added immediately. The lard, being a fat, comes last, because it makes it more difficult to form the glutinous mesh and, therefore, a smooth and elastic dough.

Leave to rise at room temperature of at least 20°C for an hour. Cover with a damp cloth or seal in a bowl with cling film. Refrigerate overnight, at least six hours. If you have more time, give the dough a couple of folds over time if you can.

If you don’t have time, add 2g of yeast at the beginning and leave it in the fridge, let the dough double at room temperature. It takes another half hour or so. Or, rather, try to increase the temperature of your room to speed up the rising process. Never exceed 30°C and never leave the dough without moisture or it will stop rising and dry out. The longer the dough rises, the softer the Tigelle will remain for a long time. They will also have better-developed alveoli and be less compact inside. They will be much softer and easier to digest. In short, patience pays off!

Take the dough out of the fridge and roll it out with the help of a little dusted flour on the work surface. You can also use a rolling pin, but the risk is to break all the air bubbles that the dough has retained during rising. Roll out the dough about 7 mm thick. Using a small 6-8 cm pastry cutter, cut out discs. Sprinkle them with flour to prevent them from sticking to the top, bottom, and sides.

Leave to rise between 40 minutes and 1 hour. Depending on the environmental conditions, the dough takes a variable amount of time to double in size. Basically, the warmer and more humid it is, the faster the dough will rise. The Tigelle discs should not be left in the air, it is better to cover them with a slightly damp cloth. Be careful, because if it is completely wet they will stick to the cloth without leaving any room to breathe!

Heat the Ghisanativa pan or griddle, well-greased with oil, for five minutes over a medium heat so that the dough does not stick.

Shake off the excess flour from the Tigelle. Place them well apart on the hot pan or griddle. Use the Pyrex lid to better develop the leavening and get softer Tigelle. Moisture increases the volume and they cook quicker.

For a softer Tigella try replacing 30g of wheat flour with 30g of soya flour.

Cook on a medium heat for 2.5 minutes per side. Once the Tigella has been turned, leave the lid half-open. It is advisable to try 1 Tigella to understand the power of your cooker and the exact cooking time.

Cut the Tigella in half with a bread knife after cooling it in a place where air can pass under and over it. Once it has lost its excess moisture, it will not be as sticky on the inside as it would be if you cut it while it is still warm.

Traditionally, Tigelle are filled with a pesto of lard and herbs such as rosemary and sage. Today, Tigelle can be filled with any number of delicacies to suit your taste. For a light meal, try them with cherry tomatoes, rocket, olive oil and Parmesan cheese.

Roberta de Salvador

“Bellunese doc, omnivorous and publicist journalist with a passion for food and wine. She graduated in Communication Sciences and then did a 10 kg master’s degree at Gambero Rosso, kilos she lost with a healthy diet and lots of walking in the mountains. The recipes she shares with us revisit traditional Italian cuisine and are repeatable even for those who are not PRO cooks.”

The recipe is realised on