Homemade Tigelle Recipe: Mini Focaccia Bites (2024)

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What equipment is needed to make tigelle bread?

Equipment:

• 2 bowls one for mixing the tigelle dough in and one for letting it rise
• fork to mix the first ingredients together
• wooden spoon to mix the rest of the ingredients together
• large wooden board or other flat surface to roll out the dough
• tigelliera, tigelle press and/or 2 non-stick pans for cooking the tigelle

Not counting the hours it takes for the recipe to rise, making tigelle flat bread is quick and easy and takes just over 30 minutes. It is well worth the time in the kitchen to make fresh tigelle bread for the table to use like bread, to make sandwiches with, or even for the creation of a unique dessert your friends will love.

Ingredients needed to make homemade tigelle

• All-purpose flour (4 cups | 500 grams) – in Italy they use “00” flour, but here you can use all-purpose flour or bread flour if you prefer.
• Dry brewer’s yeast (1 teaspoon or 10 grams of fresh brewer’s yeast) – be sure to only use yeast that has not expired to ensure your tigelle rise as they are supposed to.
• Milk (0.82 cup | 200 grams) – either 1 or 2% milk works great. Let it come up to room temperature before using it.
• Water (3.38 floz | 100 grams) – use lukewarm water so you are sure that your yeast gets activated and your tigelle dough rises.
• Lard (1.08 ounces | 30 grams) – lard or shortening is the preferred ingredient, but if you want to make this recipe vegetarian you can substitute with 30 grams of extra virgin olive oil. You can also substitute with the same amount of butter, but it will change the taste from the original recipe.
• Salt (1.67 tsp | 10 grams) – just a pinch, whether you are making them sweet or savory doesn’t matter.

How to make homemade Italian tigelle step by step

Make the tigelle dough: Place the flour and dry yeast in a bowl and mix together photo 1-2. If you are using fresh yeast, dissolve it in one tablespoon of water and add in the next step).

Now add all the liquid (milk and water) and stir together with a fork photo 3-4.

Add the room-temperature soft lard or shortening and salt and mix together with a wooden spoon (or your hands if you prefer) until you get a uniform dough that isn’t sticky photo 5-6. If necessary, you can add a little more flour.

Let the ball rest and rise: Form the dough into a smooth ball photo 7-8.

Put it in a clean bowl and cover it with plastic wrap photo 9-10.

Put it in a warm place, such as the oven with just the light on, until it triples in volume, about 3-4 hours.

Make your round tigelle shapes: On a clean flat work space, large cutting board, or chopping block, add a dusting of flour. Place the dough onto the work surface photo 11. Use a rolling pin (with a little flour on it) to roll out until it is 1/8 in | 8 mm thick photo 12, if you don’t have enough room to roll it all out, you can do it in sections.

Use a round cookie cutter or the top of a round drinking glass that is 4 in | 10 cm across to cut out the round tigelle shapes photo 13, and set them aside. Make the shapes until you have used all the dough photo 14.

Cook the tigelle: If you have a tigelliera, heat it and use it to make your tigelle as indicated in the directions that came with your device photo 15-16.

If you do not have one, use two large non-stick pans. Warm one pan for three minutes until hot and then put the little foccaccias in, cover them with parchment paper and put another pan on top that fits within it, and presses down gently on the tigelle.

Cook for one minute over medium flame, remove the pan on top, remove the parchment paper, and turn the tigelle over. Put the parchment paper and pan on top again and cook for another minute. You will want to repeat the procedure twice more, cooking for about 4 minutes total (2 minutes on each side).

If you do not have one, use two large non-stick pans. Warm one pan for three minutes until hot and then put the little foccaccias in, cover them with parchment paper and put another pan on top that fits within it, and presses down gently on the tigelle.

Cook for one minute over medium flame, remove the pan on top, remove the parchment paper, and turn the tigelle over. Put the parchment paper and pan on top again and cook for another minute. You will want to repeat the procedure twice more, cooking for about 4 minutes total (2 minutes on each side).

Fill and eat tigelle: Once all the focaccie have been cooked, you can make your tigelle into either a savory or sweet treat by stuffing them with yummy fillings like cured meats like salami or prosciutto, cheese (Parmigiano-Reggiano, Grana Padano, squacquerone, Gorgonzola etc…), or a chocolate spread, Nutella, or even jams or jellies photo 17-18.

Expert tips for making tigelle

• Start with little balls. The original way to make tigelle was not to roll out the entire dough but to create little balls that were then squeezed between two terracotta plates and baked in the wood-fired oven. Some people claim this method makes the best tigelle or crescentine montanara.
• Use two pans. A great tip for making the perfect tigelle without a tigelliera is to use two pans, one on the bottom and another pressing down from on top. Cooking them with slight downward pressure creates better results (although the taste is the same) than simply cooking them straight on a griddle.

Variations on tigelle fillings

1. Savory. Tigelle can be stuffed with your favorite Italian cold cuts such as ham or other cured meats as well as Italian cheeses that are cut into slices and put in the tigelle. You can of course add spreads, lettuce, tomato, or really anything you would normally add to a sandwich. You can make this into an entire meal!
2. Sweet. If you have a sweet tooth, you can prepare your tigelle with Nutella or another chocolate spread, or with jams or jellies.

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