Schiacciata all’uva (Tuscan Grape Focaccia)

Frank21 October 2016dessert/dolci, Fall, snack, Toscana61 Comments

No one understands simplicity quite like the Tuscans. As Leonardo da Vinci famously said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”. This rustic Grape Focaccia, which the Tuscans call Schiacciata all’uva, is a case in point.

Almost austere in its simplicity, the result is nevertheless both beautiful and—if your ingredients are topnotch—unfailingly delicious. Traditionally prepared during the vendemmia, or wine grape harvest, with grapes that would otherwise be discarded, schiacciata all’uva is made by layering grapes between and on top of two thin sheets of bread dough, and seasoning everything with sugar and olive oil, and sometimes rosemary or anise seed. The use of some savory elements like olive oil and rosemary in a sweet dish may strike you as odd, but it actually works, and gives the dish its unique character.

Ingredients

One batch of homemade bread dough
500g (1 lb) Thompson, Concord or other [black] grapes (see Notes)
4-6 Tbs granulated (caster) sugar, according to your taste
Olive oil, q.b.

Optional:

Rosemary leaves
Aniseed
Powdered (confectioner’s) sugar

Directions

Make your homemade bread dough the night before and let it rise overnight.

When you are ready to bake, scoop the dough out on a well-floured surface, dust it well with additional flour and form it into a ball.

Divide the dough in half. Take one half and flatten it out, with a rolling pin or just your hands, to about a one centimeter (3/8 inch) thickness, then lay it on a rimmed baking sheet (or, if you prefer a round schiacciata, pie plate) that you’ve greased well with olive oil. Using your fingers pressing into the dough, spread the dough out a bit more.

Lay about half of the grapes on top of the dough, then sprinkle over half the sugar, some rosemary leaves or aniseed (or both) if using, and drizzle olive oil over everything.

Flatten out the other half of the dough and lay it over the grapes. Top with the rest of the grapes, gently pressing them into the dough. Top with more sugar, herbs if using, and another drizzle of olive oil.

Let the dough rest as you set the oven to 190C/375F. When the oven reaches temperature, place the schiacciata in the oven and let it bake for 30-45 minutes, or until your schiacciata all’uva is cooked through and nicely browned on top, with the grapes popping and oozing their juice into the dough.

Let your schiacciata all’uva cool completely before serving, with a dusting of powdered sugar if you like.

Notes on Schiacciata all’uva

The key to success when making schiacciata all’uva is the grapes you use. They must have lots of flavor or the dish will be disappointing. The traditional grape for making schiacciata all’uva is the uva canaiola, a Tuscan wine grape that can complement the Sangiovese to lend softness to Chianti wine. I understand that the canaiola grape is slowly disappearing, even in Italy. These days, the more common uva fragola, literally “strawberry grape”, is a popular choice in Italy. Here in the US, you need to find a similarly small, dark and flavorful grape, like red Thompsons (which I used this time) or Concords (as recently featured by fellow blogger Linda of Ciao Chow Linda) or perhaps the Thompson-Concord hybrid called “Thomcord“. The uva fragola and the Concord are actually cultivars of the same grape species Vitis labrusca.

Variations

Like so many well-known Italian dishes, schiacciata all’uva admits a number of variations. Not all recipes call for rosemary or aniseed, although I find that they add real character to the dish. Some recipes will have you split the grapes in half, which I find much too much fuss. Some recipes call for adding some olive oil to the dough as for making pizza, some for adding sugar. In some recipes the herbs and sometimes some of the grapes are kneaded in with the bread dough. And then this marvelous looking Lombard version of the recipe from fellow blogger Stefano Artusi calls for butter rather than olive oil.

Another point of contention: How long to let the schiacciata rise before baking? Recipes range from no rest at all to an hour to three hours. Here you can let your taste be your guide. The longer the dough rests, the more it will rise, leading to a thicker, more “bready” schiacciata. For today’s recipe, I let the dough rise for just the time that the oven took to come up to temperature, and I was quite happy with the result. Baking times can vary wildly, too, from recipe to recipe. Some call for as little as 20 minutes at 200C/400F and others as much as an hour at 180C/275F. I compromised here, but the real point is, keep checking the oven and trust your eyes to know when it’s done.

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