Tigelle is an Italian small, round, thickish flat bread that is traditional in Modena (in Emila-Romagna.)
The dough is made from white wheat flour, water, and salt. The ingredients are mixed, let rest a bit, then the dough is formed into small circles about 2 inches (5 cm) wide.
The circles are cooked for a few minutes on a griddle, like pancakes and are served hot off the griddle.
Despite the dough sounding like wall-paper paste, the breads actually come out flaky.
You can also buy tigelle from the store in 8 packs.
Cooking Tips
Tigelle can be split and used for a sandwich of a cheese and a cured meat such as prosciutto or lardo. Often in Modena they are also slathered with pesto (“pesto modenese”.)
Toast store-bought tigelle for a minute or two to heat and freshen, then split.
History Notes
Some people speculate that these small breads date back to Roman times, and that tigelle were sometimes used as offerings to the god Janus.
Language Notes
Tigella is local dialect for “roofing tile.”
Sometimes tigelle are confused with “Crescentine” made in Tuscany, because an alternative name for Tigelle is Crescentine (meaning “little growers”, even though no leaven is added to the mix). These are actually two very different breads
The singular is “tigella.”
