Tigelle recipe from Modena: ingredients, step-by-step & where to try them

What's tigelle? It's a typical bread of Modena, usually served with cured meat and cheese or pesto made of lard and garlic.

Their history is interesting and complicated.
It's time to shed some light on this delicious food.

The name tigelle refers to ancient clay disks about 15cm large and 1.5 cm thick, built with chestnut groundland. Then they were shaped into a wooden mold with bas-relief engravings, then dried and finally cooked.

In ancient times, farmers of the Appennino mountains had to feed poor and usually large families.

Therefore they used to cook small balls of dough called crescentine on the clay disks (tigelle), already heated in the fireplace.

Then they altered them with chestnut or walnut leaves to separate the dough from the pottery and to keep them clean from ashes.

Today crescentina is called tigella by many, referring to the old cooking method mostly no longer applied.

Nowadays cooking is made in a faster manner, placing the balls of dough between two plates of a metallic material, in machines specially prepared for this use.

At home, you can use aluminum molds containing from 4 to 7 tigelle. It can be affixed directly on heat, as a normal pan.
Obviously, the mould is called tigelliera and you can find it in the best kitchen shops inside Bologna's food markets.​

After cooking, tigelle is cut in half when they're still very hot and filled with various toppings.

The most traditional is pesto modenese: a mixed sauce made with chopped pork lard, rosemary, garlic, and a generous sprinkling of Parmigiano Reggiano.

In Modena it's also known as cunza, the same seasoning used for borlenghi.

Over time, tigelle has been subject to less traditional but very tasty unions like cold cuts, cheese, jams, or chocolate creams for dessert.

• Yield: 8 servings

• Prep time: 25 min · Rest time: 1 h 00 min · Cook time: 10 min · Total: ~1 h 35 min

• Ingredients

  • 1.5 kg ‘00’ flour

  • 300 ml of water

  • fine salt

  • (optional, for tigelliera) 7 g instant yeast + 1 tbsp milk

• instructions

  1. on a board, knead flour, water, and salt until smooth and elastic.

  2. divide into fist-sized balls. rest 1 h.

  3. shape into 10 cm discs (1 cm thick). rest 20 min.

  4. cook between preheated plates / tigelliera until evenly golden.

• serving: split hot and fill with pesto modenese (lard, garlic, rosemary, parmigiano), cold cuts, cheese or jam.

No time to cook?
Taste 3 versions on our Modena Food Tour in one of my favorite places.

Anyway, if you have time to travel in Modena and Bologna, here's a short list of great places.

Insolito Bar

The best tigelle and gnocco (a fried bread typical of Modena and Emilia Romagna) I've ever had are prepared at this stall near Amendola Park.

​Don't expect a restaurant, it's a place with plastic chairs and paper dishes but the quality of meat, cheese, and tigelle are at the top.
​
Viale dell'Autodromo, 35, 41126 Modena MO
Tel. 059 332835

Best for: casual lunch, authentic street food vibe.

L'Amaretto

A family business since 2004, this restaurant recently won the prize for the best tigella in Modena. They like to change the shape of tigelle according to the season, so you can find a heart-shaped tigella for St.Valentine or a Christmas tree-shaped in December.
​
Via Modenese, 543, 41057 Spilamberto MO
Tel. 059 785175

Best for: family dinner, seasonal variations, playful atmosphere.

Trattoria di Via Serra

Never heard of Trattoria di Via Serra? Maybe it's a bit late to find a table available, but in case it's your lucky day, this is THE place to have tigelle in Bologna. And if they have porcini mushrooms...jackpot!
​
Via Luigi Serra, 9/b, 40129 Bologna BO
Tel. 051 631 2330

Best for: dinner with friends, gourmet experience in Bologna.

Ready to eat tigelle in Modena?

Join our Modena Cooking Class with a local chef: roll up your sleeves to prepare tigelle, enjoy a real aperitivo with gnocco fritto and Lambrusco, and sit down for a family-style dinner in a super authentic spot in the heart of Modena.

Read our 600+ 5-star reviews on Tripadvisor – and see why food lovers from The Guardian, Phil Rosenthal, and Rick Stein all rave about us.

Only 8 spots available per class – book your seat now!