[3] A version of the dish in the city of Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, is prepared with the bread sliced into round shapes, which are then fried.
In Pavullo nel Frignano, a town and comune (municipality) in the province of Modena, crescentina modenese is prepared with lard and yeast and cooked over a piastrata (a sort of grill plate), rather than fried.
In Tuscany, crescentina is dusted with salt or sugar after being fried, and sometimes Tuscan salami is incorporated into the dough.
Crescia is a version in the town and comune of Gubbio, in the province of Perugia that is prepared with oil and salt and baked in an oven.
The term spianata originally referred to pieces of flat dough that were used to test an oven's heat prior to cooking.