{Schiacciata All’Uva} Tuscan Grape Focaccia Recipe

Back when I lived in Florence, I would hit up my local bakery, Forno Becagli, on the regular. 

Sometimes I’d purchase a loaf of the traditional pane toscano, the unsalted Tuscan bread to pair with dinner. Other times I’d stop in for a slice of their pizza as an afternoon snack. But most often it was to get some of their crispy, salty schiacciata flatbread.

To say which of their breads was my favorite is tough but my favorite time of the year? Fall, when the last of the grape harvest grapes would be used to make schiacciata all’uva (pronounced “ski-ah-cha-tah ahl ooh-vah”) or sweet-savory grape focaccia. Though I no longer live in Florence, this is a recipe I make every Fall even here in California when there are all sorts of grapes from flame to Concord available at the farmers markets.

What Is Schiacciata?

Schiacciata is the Tuscan version of focaccia that is found all over the central regions of Italy. Unlike the better-known focaccia you get in Genoa, this version is often thinner and ends up a bit more crunchy than doughy. The difference from the Genoa style focaccia? It comes down to the technique. The term schiacciata means “squashed” or “pressed,” so, when you make the Tuscan version of  focaccia, you do just that by pressing the dough down with your fingers.

The simplest, most common version is topped with olive oil and eaten as is or sliced up for sandwiches. Some versions have some rosemary on top and other versions are sweet-savory take on the traditional schiacciata like this one made with grapes. The sweet-savory variations are seasonal and less common and another version we like is made with figs.

Then What Is Schiacciata All’Uva?

During the Fall harvest, the last of the wine grapes were traditionally used to make schiacciata all’uva. Translating to “smashed bread with grapes” this focaccia is a twist on the classic unsalted Tuscan focaccia known as schiacciata. 

Unlike the thin, single layered traditional schiacciata, this version is made by making a double-layer of bread with grapes sandwiched between the layers and scattered across the top. The result is a grape-studded bread with a sweet-savory jammy flavor that screams Fall.

Traditional schiacciata all’uva is a sweet-savory focaccia made with nothing more than grapes, olive oil, and sugar. And, in Italy, this is often made with an unsalted dough (as is traditional in so many breads throughout the region) and with grapes that have seeds in them (locals like the crunch the seeds provide). 

Our recipe adds in salt because we really believe it provides a more complex flavor and we say try it once with grapes that have seeds in it to see if you do or don’t like that style. Also we top it with some fresh rosemary and a bit of flaky sea salt because we think it really helps amp up the final flavor.

What Kind Of Grapes Do You Use For Schiacciata All’Uva?

 In Tuscany this bread was traditionally made as a means to use up leftover grapes from harvest. Over time the go-to grapes to make it were the naturally sweet and fragrant Canaiola. These grapes are pretty much impossible to find in the United States outside of a winery but, luckily, there are a couple alternatives. 

Most versions of this recipe will suggest you use Concord grapes, which are perfect for their small size, jammy flavor, and their water ratio. But they can only be found a few weeks out of the year and, even then, are hard to find.

Another option we’ve found works great are the small grapes known as Champagne grapes, which we come across at our gourmet grocer. And, finally, you can use red seedless Flame grapes as we’ve done here but you want to go for the smallest you can find. We’d suggest you steer clear of bigger grapes like Globes that have so much moisture that they tend to make the bread too wet and make it hard for it to properly bake. 

Or, as Emiko suggests, you could even use fresh blueberries for what we imagine would be a delicious (if untraditional) twist. 

Tips For Making Schiacciata All’Uva

If you’ve made our Genoa style focaccia, you’ll notice that there are some similarities here when it comes to technique. Both require time and patience, but, when it comes to technique, it’s really quite simple to make. Even so a few key tips will help make this focaccia a success every time:

• Overnight Rise: You’ve heard us say this time and again! From our cookies to pizza dough and focaccia, we’re fans of the long rise. Letting doughs rise in the refrigerator for anywhere from 8 to 48 hours means it has a more slow rise and a more complex flavor. If you don’t have time for that, you can still make this bread — let it rise at room temperature in a draft free, warm spot until it has doubled in size about 90 to 120 minutes.
• Smash It Down: With our Genoa-style focaccia we do multiple rises to help the final bread rise to great heights! Here we do one long rise and then actually are going to smash that down. But there is a best way to do this so that you don’t lose all the long rise height and still get the traditional Tuscan texture. We recommend bringing the dough out of the fridge and letting it sit until it’s warmed up enough to be workable (you will be able to stretch it without it snapping back), about 20 to 30 minutes. Then immediately proceed to roll out and assemble the schiacciata. Finally, before you put it in the oven, [insert Genoa focaccia language]. The end goal is that the dough will rise as it bakes but ultimately won’t get any higher or thicker than about 1 to 1 1/2 inches in height.  
• Brush With Olive Oil: Don’t be afraid of really adding a serious amount of olive oil as it provides flavor and moisture to the dough. Even when it comes out of the oven and is done baking you’ll want to do a final olive oil drizzle and add the rosemary leaves so that they infuse the focaccia as it cools. 

What To Serve With Schiacciata All’Uva

So, here’s the thing. In Italy, you’d eat this as is and it is delicious on its own. However, through the years, I’ve served it with all sorts of things including cut up into small squares as part of a cheeseboard (it’s delicious with blue cheese or goat cheese), served it with curls of prosciutto on top to up the sweet-savory contrast, and I’ve even topped it with a scoop of ice cream drizzled with olive oil for dessert!

Go stock up on all your cooking essentials, then head into the kitchen, make this, and share it with us by tagging @saltandwind and #swsociety on social!