Make Ahead

Cascioni Romganoli

by:
June 13, 2013
4
2 Ratings
  • Makes 8 to 12 cascioni
Author Notes

When my mom and my nonna would make piadina, a flat bread from Romagna, they would reserve a bit of dough for cascioni, griddled pockets of dough stuffed with tomato and cheese, stewed greens we called "erbe," or whatever goodies were lying around (nutella and apricot jam anyone?). I love them so much that now, when I make a batch of the dough, I rarely bother with the piadina -- I just stuff it all. Cascioni are admittedly a bit laborious, but they freeze beautifully, are totally portable, and always make me think of my mom, my nonna, and childhood summers in Romagna. —lisina

Test Kitchen Notes

Best described as better-than-hot pockets, Cascioni Romganoli is a savory treat you can enjoy any time. Stuffed with a delicious Swiss chard filling, these turnover-style stuffed breads are portable, making them perfect for road trips, school lunches, and hiking excursions. While best warm, I can tell you from experience that they're just as tasty at room temperature. —RunningFoodie

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Ingredients
  • For the dough
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup tepid water
  • 3/4 cup olive oil
  • For the filling
  • 2 yellow onions, sliced
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 large bundles of swiss card, washed and chopped
  • 3 to 4 large balls of fresh mozzarella
  • one 32-ounce can of crushed San Marzano tomatoes
  • Salt, as needed
Directions
  1. On a smooth work surface, stir the baking soda and salt into the flour. Create a mound with a well in the middle that is large enough to hold your water and oil.
  2. Pour the water and oil into the center of the well. Using a fork, begin to draw the flour mixture into the center of the well, stirring. The well will begin to get pasty and grow in diameter.
  3. When the paste in the center is thick and gloppy, use your hands to fold in the remaining flour surrounding the well. Knead until the dough is relatively uniform, about 3 minutes. This is a shaggy, raggedy looking dough, but the texture should still be uniform. (Note: Steps 1 to 3 can also be done in a stand mixer with a dough hook).
  4. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside to rest while you prepare the fillings.
  5. In a large skillet, saute the onion and garlic in olive oil. Sprinkle with salt. When the aromatics are soft, add the chard and cover. Stir occasionally until the chard is not only wilted but also tender, about 20 minutes. Set aside.
  6. Pat the mozzarella dry, squeezing a bit to release extra water. Slice thinly. Set aside. We use the tomato straight from the jar or can, no preparation necessary.
  7. Once your fillings are ready, you can begin to roll out your dough. Use a bench scraper to cut your dough into 12 pieces. Taking one piece at a time (and keeping the rest covered), use a rolling pin to roll it out, turning as you roll so that it is as round as possible. Roll each piece to about 1/8-inch thick and set each one aside as you go.
  8. Lay out half of your rounds (called "piadine"). Cover half of each round with the chard, leaving a 1/2-inch lip. Fold the clean half of the piadine over the filling and use a fork to crimp them shut. Lay out your remaining piadine. Add a few tablespoons of tomato, a few slices of cheese, and a sprinkling of salt, maintaining the 1/2" lip. Fold the clean half of the piadine over the filling and use a fork to crimp them shut.
  9. Preheat oven to 200° F and heat a skillet or griddle over medium-high heat. Lay the cascioni onto the griddle to brown, about 2 minutes per side. The dough will have a mottled light-dark finish. Transfer the griddled cascioni to the warming oven until ready to serve. Serve them cut in half to expose the filling and release a bit of the heat.
  10. The cascioni can be held in the fridge for 5 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months. Pop them in the oven or back on the griddle to reheat. They're good cold as well!

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22 Reviews

I'm going to try these tonight. I'm swimming in greens from my CSA share. About how large are the circles when they are rolled out? Thanks!
lisina July 8, 2013
If I cut the dough into 12 pieces, they roll out to about 12" rounds. But it's more important to go by thinness, getting them as thin as 1/8" if possible. Of course, if you want smaller cascioni, you can always cut the dough into more pieces.
Thanks! Can't wait to try this.
andrea L. July 8, 2013
Thanks for the unique recipe. This should be up as one of the finalists!!
lisina July 8, 2013
Aw, thank you so much Andrea! I'm so glad you liked it.
Kt4 June 24, 2013
step 9 says to put chard into dough then fold dough over & seal. step 10 says to fill with tomato & cheese. i'm assuming all the piadine should be filled with chard+tomato+cheese... :-?
mrslarkin June 24, 2013
nope. I'm pretty sure Lisina means half of the rounds should be stuffed with chard and half should be stuffed with tomato/cheese.
lisina June 24, 2013
mrs. larkin is right. i like to do half chard and half tomato/mozz and that is what i intended in this recipe. however, i really like to experiment with fillings, so feel free to get creative!
lisa B. June 21, 2013
I would love to try these out. I'll give it a go.
lisina June 24, 2013
great! let me know how they turn out!
Midge June 21, 2013
These are beautiful!
lisina June 24, 2013
thank you!
healthierkitchen June 15, 2013
Love this! Perfectly portable.
lisina June 24, 2013
me too, and they are! especially when they're cold or room temp. when they're hot the cheese is definitely a little oozy, but they're super-yum.
mrslarkin June 13, 2013
Love it!! Perfect snack food. We roll our dough with a pasta machine to get it super thin.
lisina June 13, 2013
that is SUCH a great idea! i'm trying that with my next batch.
pierino June 15, 2013
Sounds wonderful! My only suggestion would be to add some lard to the dough. That would be typical of the piadina in Romagna. Leaf lard being best as manteca has too much of a porky aroma. Anyway, sounds delicious.
lisina June 16, 2013
thanks pierino! and you're 100% right about the lard (very traditional, plus it makes the piadina SO flaky and flavorful). for cascioni specifically, i like to use olive oil, because the dough is a bit more sturdy and forgiving when you stuff it--plus i always have it on hand. but, subbing in some lard really takes it to another level. no arguments here!
mrslarkin June 16, 2013
When I don't have leaf lard, I use Crisco. I'll have to try olive oil next time. My sister uses coconut oil. They come out terrific.
lisina October 23, 2013
mrs. larkin, do the coconut oil piadine taste coconutty? i'm thinking of trying that this weekend.
mrslarkin October 23, 2013
very very faintly, yes. Unless you use refined coconut oil - no taste/aroma in that kind.
lisina October 23, 2013
perfect, thanks for the quick reply!