Pitta Ripiena Calabrese-Calabrese Stuffed Flatbread

There are many recipes I enjoy from Calabria that I learned from my mother-in-law. This Pitta Ripiena- Calabrian Stuffed Flatbread is something made during various holidays in our family.

The is primarily made on Easter weekend in our house. This pitta ripiena (or you maybe have heard it called pitta china, pitta chjina or pitta chiina in Calabrese dialect) is usually made for Good Friday. Teresa (my darling mother-in-law) is quite strict during the Lent and Easter season. There will be NO meat eaten on every Friday and even on Wednesdays (a sacrifice she has made for herself, but that my father-in-law follows along with to support her decision).

The no meat on Wednesdays is not enforced only during Lenten season; it is something she enforces all year long. We follow along with her no meat rules on Wednesdays when we stay with them in Italy or when they come here. After all, she does cook all the incredible meals!

Even though Teresa is in Italy, she now FaceTime calls us and she has the ability with this technology to look us in the eyes. She makes sure we don’t eat meat during Lent on Fridays. Teresa reminds us to go to church on Palm Sunday. She also gives us tutorials on how to braid the palm leaves into a little basket or a cross. Teresa taught me how to make this on one of her Easter visits to the States and I am grateful for her Calabrian food knowledge.

This Calabrian stuffed flatbread can be found in various regions of Italy with different names. It could be made with sweet white onions instead of scallions. If you have family from the Puglia region you may know it is a scalcione or calzone di cipolla. In Liguria it is made with a spinach (or Swiss chard) and egg filling and is called a Torta Pasqualina.

Pitta is a regionally made bread, and I’ve found that it is made also round and with a hole in the center that you can find all over Calabria in bakeries. And then there is this sort of pitta that is layered and stuffed.

So you see this fabulous filling on the right? This is something they call brodicellu (not sure if spelling is correct and I also never pronounce it correctly). When you really feel there is nothing to make for dinner or lunch, you cook up some scallions, olives (Teresa’s own cured olives), eggplant (her own pickled eggplant), green tomatoes (her own pickled tomatoes). You add some fresh chopped tomatoes or canned tomatoes. Or you add Teresa’s own tomato sauce. You add a splash of wine (most likely their homemade wine)and if you don’t have any wine, you leave it out.  Add a few eggs and you have brodicellu ca uovo. Leave out the eggs, and it’s fine like that too!

Before I get into the makings of this delicious Calabrian recipe, here is a photo of what we made for our big Italian party. Everyone participated and brought something. We brought a pasta salad, a torta pasqualina, my pastiera Napoletana and ricotta ciambella.

How do you make a Pitta Ripiena Calabrese-Calabrese Stuffed Flatbread?

So you see this fabulous filling on the right? This is something they call brodicellu (not sure if spelling is correct and I also never pronounce it correctly). When you really feel there is nothing to make for dinner or lunch, you cook up some scallions, olives (Teresa’s own cured olives), eggplant (her own pickled eggplant), green tomatoes (her own pickled tomatoes). You add some fresh chopped tomatoes or canned tomatoes. Or you add Teresa’s own tomato sauce. You add a splash of wine (most likely their homemade wine)and if you don’t have any wine, you leave it out.  Add a few eggs and you have brodicellu ca uovo. Leave out the eggs, and it’s fine like that too!

Usually that onion tomato deliciousness is enjoyed with homemade super crusty Calabrian bread. And then other times it’s enjoyed baked inside a homemade dough rolled thin. Sort of like a stuffed thin pizza.

I happen to have a 12″ round springform pan. If you have a smaller size, you will have some extra dough. You could use the extra dough and make some freeform calzones. Another idea is to make these as a freeform stuffed bread (so basically it’s a large calzone). Or make two!

If you aren’t making this for Good Friday, it could be made with a delicious mix of cheeses and cured meats. If you’re in Calabria you will have the amazing Tropea onions (from Tropea).  So what is exactly a pitta china-pitta ripiena? It is sort of a stuffed pie, pizza, even considered a bread. It’s something you will find all over Calabria and not just during the holidays. But since I made this on Easter weekend, I’m sharing the vegan/vegetarian version that we made for a big Italian Easter party last weekend.

The dough comes together pretty quickly. I used a dry white wine to make it with room temp water. If you want to leave out the wine, you could use just water. It is not a yeast based dough, although I have come across recipes that use yeast and even a biga. Teresa taught me to make it like this so I’m making it just as she showed me. It sort of reminds me of my piadina.

Once you let the filling cool down a little bit, spoon it over the first layer of dough in the pan, making sure to leave a clean border without the filling. My mom’s take on this recipe is that she feels it doesn’t need the top layer. She wants us to make it again and not add on the second layer of dough. I like the top layer of dough and think it makes it more portable for a party or an Italian picnic.

Roll out the second layer of dough and carefully place it over the filling. Using a pastry cutter to cut off any excess dough. Grab a fork and carefully prick around the top of the dough and also seal the edges of the dough together with the fork. Brush on some extra-virgin olive oil before placing in the oven to bake.

Twelve Loaves: I used to do a monthly bread baking challenge called Twelve Loaves. It was launched back in May, 2012 (so much time has flown by!).  It was filled with wonderful bakers from all over the world and we would bake along to a different theme. The baking group always inspired me to bake bread. This is a personal bread baking challenge to myself! In order to get back to baking bread regularly, I am doing #TwelveLoaves again. My goal is to bake Twelve Loaves by the end of 2019.  It could be a dough with yeast or without. Most often it will be a yeast based dough. This is my 3rd bread recipe of the year.

January: Chocolate Babka-Babka al Cioccolato

February: Crusty No-Knead Italian Bread

March: (I will post what I baked in March)

April: Pitta Ripiena Calabrese-Calabrese Stuffed Flatbread

some notes on this recipe: We have enjoyed this hot out of the oven. We have also enjoyed it warm after letting it cool down a bit. If you happen to have any leftovers, it is delicious the next day without even warming it up. The flavors of the filling meld together even more.

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Pitta Ripiena Calabrese-Calabrese Stuffed Flatbread

This stuffed flatbread is my Italian mother-in-law’s recipe. It is filled with cherry tomatoes, scallions and olives. Totally meat free for the vegetarians (and vegans…no cheese!).

Prep Time30 mins

Cook Time35 mins

Total Time1 hr 5 mins

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Bread, Calabria

Servings: 6 servings

Author: Lora

Ingredients

DOUGH

• 3 cups flour
• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup dry white wine room temp
• ½ cup water room temp
• 1 teaspoon sea salt

FILLING

• 8 scallions cleaned and cut into large portions
• ½ cup Italian cured black olives, pitted and chopped
• 6 anchovy filets optional
• 1 Tablespoon salt cured Italian capers
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes cut in half (I used 1 small can of cherry tomatoes)
• 6 anchovy filets optional
• splash of dry white wine
• sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

DOUGH

• Preheat oven to 425F.
• Put all of the dough ingredients together in a stand mixer. Mix on low until it becomes a smooth ball. Add a little bit more flour if the dough seems too wet to be able to form into a smooth and elastic ball. You could also make the dough by hand.
• Separate the dough into two portions. Cover with a towel while you make the filling.

FILLING

• Add the olive oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the scallions and cook for a few minutes. Add in the olives, anchovy filets (if using), capers and cherry tomatoes (I used a small can of Italian cherry tomatoes, tomatoes and the juice).
• Let it cook for about 5 minutes. Add in the wine and cook for a few more minutes. Test for salt (it should already be salty from the olives, anchovies and capers, if you’re using them.)
• Add a little pepper, if you like. Place the filling in a bowl and let it cool a little (about 15 minutes).

ASSEMBLE PITTA

• Take one portion of the dough to roll and cover the other one with a towel.
• Spread some olive oil in the springform pan (I used a 12” round springform pan).
• Sprinkle a little bit of a flour on a clean surface and begin to roll out the first section of dough to be large enough to cover the bottom of the pan.
• Carefully transfer to the dough to cover the bottom of the pan; set aside.
• Spoon in the filling on the surface of the dough leaving the perimeter uncovered.
• Roll out the other portion of the dough and carefully cover the filling.
• If there are any large portions of dough cut with a pastry cutter. Pinch the two doughs together to seal in the filling. Go around the dough with a fork and press the perimeter of the pitta closed.
• Poke the surface of the top layer of the pitta with a fork every few inches.
• Brush on a bit of the extra-virgin olive oil.
• Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the top gets golden brown.

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