Erbazzone

Documented in Reggio Emilia since at least the 12th century as 'scarpazzone' — peasant cooking that used wild greens (originally including chard stems, the 'scarpe' or 'shoe' parts, hence the name). It was field food: portable, robust, eats cold. The lardo crust is older than butter dough in this region; pigs were the household pantry, and rendered fat outlasted cream.

Documented in Reggio Emilia since the 12th century as 'scarpazzone' — peasant pie that used chard stems (the 'scarpe' or shoes). Dough is laminated with strutto (rendered lard), not butter, so the crust stays savory cold. Greens must be squeezed bone-dry by hand in a towel or the bottom weeps.

A flat, dark-green savory pie about a finger thick, cut into squares. Filling is finely chopped Swiss chard and spinach, sweated with onion and rendered lardo, bound with Parmigiano — no eggs, no ricotta. The crust is paper-thin lardo-flecked dough rolled and pricked all over so it doesn't puff. Eaten room-temperature as breakfast, snack, or roadside lunch in Reggio Emilia. Greens should taste of greens, not cheese.

The greens must be squeezed bone-dry after blanching — squeeze in a clean kitchen towel by hand, not a strainer, or the filling weeps and the crust goes soggy from below. The traditional fat for the dough is strutto (rendered lard); butter versions taste richer but lack the savory note that makes the pie work cold. Pricking the crust before baking is essential; ungassed steam tears the top.