Italian Schiacciata con l'Uva: Tuscan Grape Harvest Flatbread with Rosemary

Whisk the flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Pour in the water and 3 tbsp of the olive oil and mix to a shaggy, sticky dough. Cover and rest 15 minutes, then knead in the bowl for 3 minutes until it smooths out.

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 3 1/4 cups (400 g) bread flour
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 1 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 1/4 cups (300 ml) lukewarm water
• 5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus more for the pan
• 2 lb (900 g) small dark seedless grapes, preferably wine grapes or Concord-style, washed and stemmed
• 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar, divided
• 2 tbsp coarse turbinado sugar
• 1 tbsp fresh rosemary needles, roughly chopped
• Pinch of flaky salt

Instructions

1. Whisk the flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Pour in the water and 3 tbsp of the olive oil and mix to a shaggy, sticky dough. Cover and rest 15 minutes, then knead in the bowl for 3 minutes until it smooths out.
2. Cover and leave to rise at room temperature for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until roughly doubled and puffy. In an August kitchen this can happen faster than you expect, so check at the 75-minute mark.
3. Oil a rimmed sheet pan generously. Turn out the dough and press it toward the corners with oiled fingertips, resting it a few minutes whenever it fights back, until it covers about two-thirds of the pan.
4. Scatter half the grapes over the dough and press them in firmly so they sit half-submerged. Sprinkle with half the granulated sugar and half the rosemary.
5. Fold the uncovered third of dough over the filled section and press the whole thing back out to fill the pan, sealing the grapes inside as a hidden layer.
6. Cover the top with the remaining grapes, pressing them in again, then scatter the remaining granulated sugar, the rosemary, the turbinado sugar and the flaky salt, and drizzle with the last 2 tbsp of olive oil.
7. Rest uncovered for 30 minutes while the oven heats to 400F (200C). Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the crust is deep gold and the grape juices have reduced to sticky purple pools at the edges.
8. Cool in the pan for 20 minutes so the juices set, then cut into squares and serve warm or at room temperature, ideally the same day.
9. Schiacciata con l'uva belongs to vendemmia, the Tuscan grape harvest, and it exists because pickers needed something to do with the crushed and split fruit that could not go into the vats. Traditionally it is made with Sangiovese grapes, seeds and all, and Tuscans will argue that spitting out the seeds is part of the experience; seedless supermarket grapes make a gentler version that is no less good. Rosemary in a dessert reads strangely until you taste it against the winey sweetness of cooked grapes, at which point it becomes obvious why this flatbread has survived essentially unchanged since the Etruscans.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 340 kcal
• Protein: 6g
• Fat: 11g
• Carbohydrates: 56g
• Fiber: 3g
• Sugar: 22g
• Sodium: 300mg