Crescentine - Specialties from the Emilia Romagna

I went shopping yesterday and bought some products that are originated in the Italian region of Emilia Romagna. The capitol is Bologna and people call that region La Grassa - the fat region. They are famous for using butter instead of olive oil, well known is the huge sausage - Mortadella- the wonderful Parma ham and least but not last Parmegiano regiano. The wine is often Lambrusco, which does not always has the best reputation.

Emilia Romagna at its best

I was on a holiday there once and lived in a small Spa Town near Piacenza and drove all about the area. Cooking lots of local products in the apartment was great, so learning that Italian holiday apartments are usually very scarce with kitchen untenils. But I came prepared.

We made little pillows today. They are called Crescentine in Italian and are from the region of Emilia Romagna. It is a fried bread dough and eaten as a starter with the goodies I listed above.

you don`t need to make the zick zack on the outside, just cut them

recipe:
350 g flour
150 g durum wheat semolina
300 g water
12 g salt
12 g oil
10 g fresh yeast

1 cm oil for the pot to fry the bread pillows in

Mix the dough and let it rest for 20 minutes, then roll it on a floured surface very thin. Take a knife and cut out little rectangles about 5 x 2,5 cm.
Heat up the oil to 170 C and drop 3 pieces of dough into the pot. They will form a bubble in the middle, then turn them and fry the other side. That goes very quickly, so make sure you don`t burn most of them.

Let them cool on some kitchen paper and serve with Mortadella, Parma ham and Parmigiano regiano and a good Glass of Lambrusco.