Tigelle a new way to serve antipasti with cured meats from Bologna

We had many food discoveries on our trip to Bologna, mostly of the “didn’t know this could be this good” variety. Swoon-worthy tagliatelle with ragu, tortellini in brodo, mortadella. All marvelous. But finding tigelle on our antipasti platter knocked us back on our culinary haunches.

Tigelle, also known as crescentine, are akin to a cross between a pancake and an English muffin. You split them open and fill with a variety of treats, from cured meat to cheese to pesto montanaro (pork fat minced until buttery with rosemary, garlic, and black pepper, recipe below).

They’re beautiful, too, since they are made in an iron that transfers a lovely shape onto the surface. I wanted to bring home a tigelle press, but knew that to be impractical, so I despaired of ever being able to transfer tigelle to my own antipasti platter.

With a bit of research, I discovered that you can make tigelle at home without special equipment! They don’t look as fancy, but they taste just as good. If you’ve been serving salumi with bread, you won’t believe how much better these are. Soft and a little toothsome, they allow the meat to shine. Plus, they can turn an antipasti spread into a meal. Perfect to spice up our quarantine days.

Yesterday, I made a batch of tigelle and left them to rise while I took the children to the river to play. We came home, I rolled and cut them out and dashed to change into a dress so I could feel festive (shaking up the routine is one of my primary ways of “coping with quarantine”). The nice thing about having older kids is that meals can feel like parties with your friends, and no time is that more true than while you’re enjoying a dinner of antipasti with a rousing game of cornhole.

I recommend serving tigelle with something bubbly. If you want to stay true to regional theme, I suggest a Hugo (recipe below) or a chilled bottle of Lambrusco. I admit I never really liked Lambrusco before we went to Bologna, but there I realized how perfectly the cool and slightly sweet bubbles cut through the richness of cured meats.

In fact, I fondly remember in Bologna we went to this dive where you bring your own food (we brought tigelle, natch, and packet after packet of salumi plus some cherries from the market). You purchase a bottle of Lambrusco at a corner counter and settle at a table for a leisurely afternoon of gossip or round after round of scopa. Our memories of Bologna are filtered through contented haze of tigelle and Lambrusco.

Tigelle

1/2 T dry yeast (some people like their tigelle puffy and will use more, some people like them less puffy and use less, try it this way and then adjust)
150 grams of milk
150 grams of water
500 grams flour
5 grams sea salt
25 grams fat: strutto, if you can find it , gives the most authentic result, but shortening, olive oil, even butter all work just fine. They all offer differences in final texture, but since tigelle vary anyway, not having strutto shouldn’t stop you from making tigelle! I made the ones featured here with shortening

Process

Combine yeast with water and milk. Let sit.
Combine the flour and salt.
Add the fat to the flour and work it together.
Make a well in the flour, add the yeast liquid, mixing with a wooden spoon until it comes together.
Knead until you have a smooth dough, about 8 minutes.
Transfer to an oiled bowel, cover with a towel.
Let rest for 2 hours, until doubled in size.
Place on a floured board and roll thin, about half a centimeter.
Cut with a biscuit cutter or floured glass, about 8 centimeters in diameter.
Cover with a towel for about a half hour. This is a great time to make the pesto and prepare your platters and drinks!
Heat a cast iron (or other) pan on medium. Once hot, add a layer of tigelle. Once they get toasty on one side, turn and cook on the other.
Transfer to a plate.
When ready to serve, split them open by hand and fill with an array of toppings. Favorites are: cured meats, cheese, arugula…mix and match!

Pesto Montanaro or Modenese (also sometimes called cunza)

No green here, the base of this spread is pork fat, not basil. Simply finely dice about 200 grams of lard until creamy. With your knife, work in a garlic clove and 2 sprigs of rosemary and a big pinch of salt and black pepper to taste. Finding lard (not the melted, processed kind for baking, but the actual fat) can be tricky in the US. When I see lardo I buy it (it’s also excellent draped over a hot piece of toast, so it melts a little, and then drizzled with honey), but barring that I’ve used jowl bacon which is pretty fatty, or other similar kinds of pork fat (make sure what you use can be eaten raw). Serve slathered on warm tigelle with a sprinkle of freshly grated parmesan.

Hugo Spritzes

A classic cocktail of northern Italy, this cocktail is refreshing and light with its floral touch from the elderflower liquor and green backing from the mint. I predict it will be the new Aperol spritz, in terms of taking Italy-lovers by storm.

Add ice cubes to two stemmed glasses.
Muddle (crush to release the flavor oils) a few mint leaves and add them to the glasses.
To each glass add two tablespoons of elderflower liquor and two ounces of sparkling water and a slice of lime. Based on the size of your glass and your flavor preference , you’ll want to experiment with proportions here.
Top off the glass with prosecco and stir gently.