Crescentine, also known as tigelle, are small round griddled flatbreads from the Apennine foothills south of Bologna, split hot and stuffed with cunza (lard-and-rosemary paste), mortadella or squacquerone cheese.
Where to eat it: 5 restaurants across 1 city.
Crescentine take their name from the terracotta tigella discs, traditionally heated in the fire and used to cook the dough between two layers. The hill villages of the Modenese and Bolognese Apennines (Zocca, Vergato, Castel d'Aiano) have made them for at least 600 years; the recipe is a simple lard-flour-milk dough cooked in cast-iron pans now. The classic filling is cunza, a paste of pounded lard, garlic, rosemary and Parmigiano, plus a slice of mortadella or prosciutto. Trattoria Anna Maria, Sfoglia Rina and the agriturismi south of Bologna serve them by the basket; the bread arrives hot, the salumi board cold.
Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy
Tip from the editors. Eat within 10 minutes of cooking; tigelle go leather-tough as they cool. The cunza is the killer detail; lard, rosemary, garlic, Parmigiano.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Trattoria Anna Maria in Bologna near Via Zamboni is the city's most-photographed sfoglia trattoria, run by Anna Maria Monari since 1985 with hand-rolled tortellini.
Signature: Tagliatelle al ragu, Tortellini in brodo, Lasagne verdi
Order: Tagliatelle al ragu, tortellini in brodo, lasagne verdi, gnocco fritto.
Tip: Book a week ahead for dinner. Lunch is calmer and the sfogline still hand-roll pasta in the window between services.
Why locals love it: Sfoglina counter with hand-rolled pasta sold by weight; the dine-in carte takes walk-ins for the same pasta the restaurant kitchens cook.
Tip: Walk-in for the dine-in until 14:00; take-away pasta runs from 5 euros per 250g and the queue thins after 11:30.
Why locals love it: Saragozza's 28-seat osteria from Daniele Minarelli and Valeria Tonelli; the canonical Emilian carte at full editorial precision.
Tip: Book three weeks ahead by phone; the room seats 28 and the lunch service has the easiest tables.
Why locals love it: At the foot of the 666-arch portico up to San Luca; the post-Sunday-walk lunch destination that requires a 25-minute portico stroll first.
Tip: Book a week ahead for Sunday lunch; the portico walk from Porta Saragozza is the traditional pre-lunch passeggiata.
Why locals love it: Mazzini's no-website neighbourhood osteria with the fixed-price set carte; locals fill the dining room and the tourist guides miss it.
Tip: Book by phone two days ahead; the 25-euro set carte runs at lunch only and is the value play.
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