P
Italian · Tuscany
Schiacciata all'Uva — Grape Harvest Flatbread
Schiacciata all'uva is the Tuscan autumn flatbread made during the vendemmia (grape harvest) with Sangiovese wine grapes pressed into a simple olive-oil dough sweetened with sugar and flavoured with rosemary. The grapes are both inside the dough and pressed onto the top before baking — the heat bursts them, their juice caramelises into the dough, and the seeds and skins create a texture and bitterness that balances the sweetness. It is eaten warm from the oven throughout the harvest weeks and nowhere else in the year.
I
The Market List
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For the dough
500 g
plain flour (tipo 00 or strong white)
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
300 ml
warm water
Your own market
7 g
dried yeast (or 15 g fresh)
Your own market
60 ml
extra-virgin olive oil
plus more for the tin
Your own market
1 tsp
fine salt
Your own market
50 g
caster sugar
Your own market
For the filling and top
600 g
small black wine grapes (Sangiovese or Canaiolo)
whole, unwashed, seeds and skins retained
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
40 g
caster sugar
for sprinkling
Your own market
4 g
fresh rosemary leaves
stripped from the stem
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
II
The Method
1
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water with a pinch of the sugar. Leave until a foam develops on the surface — the yeast is active.
2
Combine the flour, remaining sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add the yeast liquid and olive oil. Work together to a smooth, slightly tacky dough. Knead for eight to ten minutes until the dough is supple and springs back when pressed with a finger.
3
Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover, and leave to rise until doubled in volume. The dough is ready when a finger pressed into it leaves an indent that does not spring back.
4
Heat the oven to 200 °C. Oil a large baking tin generously. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Press or roll the first piece directly into the tin to form a thin, even layer covering the base.
5
This is where the dish lives or dies. Press half the grapes firmly into the lower layer of dough — they must be embedded, not merely resting on the surface. Lay the second sheet of dough over the top and press it down to enclose the grapes. Press the remaining grapes firmly into the upper surface with equal insistence, embedding them. Scatter the sugar and rosemary leaves across the top. Every grape must be anchored: grapes that sit loose will not burst into the dough.
6
Bake at 200 °C until the top is deep golden and the grape juice has caramelised and darkened around each burst grape — the surface should show dark, lacquered rings of concentrated juice. A pale schiacciata is under-baked; the juice must have had time to concentrate and the sweetness to balance the tannin of the skins.
7
Remove from the oven and allow to cool until warm but handleable. The interior grape pockets will release their juice on cutting — the alternation of bread and hot juice is the characteristic pleasure of the dish. Eat the same day.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Sangiovese or Canaiolo grapes sourced directly from a Chianti Classico producer during the vendemmia; a stone-milled Tuscan tipo 00 flour; a single-estate Tuscan olive oil of the current harvest.
02
Estate — Small black wine grapes (Sangiovese) from a specialist importer or farmers' market in September; a good tipo 00 flour; a named extra-virgin olive oil from central Italy.
03
Market — The smallest, most tart black grapes available at the market — not table grapes; a reliable strong white flour; a sound extra-virgin olive oil. The tannin and tartness of the grape are essential; size and sweetness are the enemy.
04
House — Any small, dark, seeded grape with natural acidity. The dish degrades with large, seedless, sweet table grapes — the tannin from seeds and skins is structural, not incidental. Use what has bitterness.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Sight. Yeast liquid shows an active foam before incorporation into the dough.
◇Touch. Proved dough retains a finger-indent and does not spring back — ready to divide.
◇Touch. Grapes are firmly embedded in both dough layers, immovable when the tin is tilted.
◇Sight. Baked surface is deep golden; dark, lacquered rings of caramelised juice surround each burst grape.
◇Smell. The oven smell shifts from baking bread to something fermented and sweet — concentrated grape juice and rosemary together signal the caramelisation is complete.
◇Where it lives or dies. The grapes must be pressed firmly into both layers of dough — embedded, not resting — or the juice will not burst into the crumb and caramelise into the surface.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Sparkling wine
From British Columbia
2023 seven stars VEGA
Township 7 Vineyards & Winery · Naramata Bench
Township 7 Vineyards & Winery · Penticton →Sparkling wine
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