Crescentine are a particular type of bread typical of the Modena Apennines, prepared with a dough based on flour, lard, yeast and water.
Once upon a time, crescentine were cooked by placing them between particular terracotta or refractory stone discs called, precisely, "tigelle", hence the current name of this typical Emilian bread. Nowadays, however, they are cooked in special dedicated plates.
I have a very special memory linked to crescentine: my grandfather, originally from Verica, a small town located in the Modena Apennines, was very attached to this particular type of bread, and woe to call them "tigelle" (which were, as mentioned before, discs VERY HARD terracotta / stone that allowed the cooking of the crescentine)!
When someone in our family called them that, he would start muttering saying: "I would really like to see you eat a TIGELLA!"
Difficulty : medium
Preparation time : 10 minutes + 1 hour of leavening.
Cooking time : 5-10 minutes.
INGREDIENTS (for 6-7 people, about 85 crescentine)
⋆ 850 g. of gluten-free flour (I am very happy with the Nutrifree bread mix)
⋆ 560ml of water
⋆ A cube of fresh yeast
⋆ A spoonful of lard
⋆ Salt to taste
METHOD
Take a large bowl and dissolve the yeast in the water with a teaspoon of sugar (alternatively you can also use honey if you prefer), which will help us to leaven.
Then, add the flour a little at a time and mix with a spoon to incorporate the water well.
Finally, all that remains is to add the spoonful of lard and the salt.
When the mixture is quite homogeneous, then transfer it to a work surface and knead with your hands until you have a nice smooth ball.
Then let the dough rest for about an hour in a bowl covered with plastic wrap or with a damp cloth.
Once the leavening time has elapsed, place the tigelle plate (an electric plate is also fine) on the stove over low heat.
In the meantime, roll out the dough and cut into discs about half a centimeter thick (you can use a pasta cup or a glass) and place them on a dry cloth or on a sheet of absorbent kitchen paper.
IMPORTANT! While cutting the tigelle, remember to turn the plate from time to time, otherwise it will only get too hot on one side, thus risking burning them.
Finally, cook the crescentine and remove them when they are golden brown!
Here in Modena we eat them with various cured meats: raw ham, salami, cracklings, mortadella...
But the typical filling is mountain lard, which here in Modena is called "cunza" or "counza", and is prepared with lard and salt flavored with garlic and rosemary... my grandfather prepared it by hand!
Clearly good. Clearly gluten free!
Edited by clearlywithout.com