26 Nov Create your own Italian street food at home with this secret recipe
If you’re looking for a new, unique recipe to try, why not have a go at making this traditional Italian dish? It can be filled with anything your heart desires, and as a bread-based dish, it’s incredibly inexpensive to make from ingredients already sat in your store cupboard.
The expert chefs of award-winning Italian food brand Indegno recently brought the traditional, festival-inspired crescentina to the heart of London’s Shoreditch on the bustling Brick Lane all the way from Bologna.
A humble dish from the region of Emilia-Romagna, the crescentina is handmade from freshly rolled dough, which is then fried and filled with high quality and fresh Italian ingredients, such as cheeses, hams and cooked vegetables – think folded pizza packed with all your favourite fillings.
Follow the simple recipe below to try making a crescentina at home – or just head down to Brick Lane, Shoreditch to get one from the masters at Indegno!
Ingredients:
500g plain flour
100ml milk
50g yeast
200g cold sparkling water
Pinch of salt
Teaspoon of baking powder
50g lard (or Sunflower Oil)
Filling suggestions:
Ricotta
Parma ham
Caramelised onions
Method:
Step 1: In a bowl, mix the flour, yeast and salt. Make a small hole in the centre, place the lard, or sunflower oil, milk, and sparkling water into it. Mix everything together by hand, kneading for a few minutes, then onto the surface continue kneading to form a dough.
Step 2: Put the dough in the bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave to proof for an hour or two.
Step 3: Put the dough on a clean surface and cut it into four parts. Roll out the dough thinly with a rolling pin, one piece at a time. The height is about 2 mm.
Step 4: With a knife or a pastry cutter, give the crescentina the shape you prefer: rectangles or triangles work well if you want to fold them and fill them. If you want, you can also make them round for a side dish.
Step 5: Ensure the oil is to temperature (170 degrees Celsius) and start frying. As soon as the crescentine swell and form bubbles and take colour, they are ready.
Step 6: Lift the crescentine from the oil with tongues and place them in a bowl covered with a cloth to keep them warm.
Step 7: Fill with a soft cheese like ricotta, add your favourite meat such as parma ham, dress it with sweet caramelised onions, and serve!
Bellisimo!
Indegno’s first UK restaurant officially opened its doors to the public on Monday, 16 October 2023, and is open 11:00am-11:00pm Monday to Sunday.
To be the first to take a bite of Bologna’s best dish, follow Indegno on Instagram, visit www.indegno.eu/en-gb or head to its new restaurant at 104 Brick Lane, Shoreditch, E1 6RL.
