This grape focaccia was inspired by crates of deep purple, vibrant green and ruby red grapes which caught my eye at the farmers’ market in September, a welcome sign of approaching autumn after a blistering summer. In the early morning light, the glistening grapes еstablished a gorgeous image highlighting nature’s abundance. It was impossible to walk away without buying large bunches to enjoy later.
These luscious grapes brought memories of an Italian bread I made years earlier — schiacciata con l’uva (stiacciata col’uva or schiacciata all’uva and there are other spellings, depending on where in Italy it is baked)– a grape focaccia with rosemary and flakey sea salt. It was a sweet and salty showstopper that Weldon and I devoured quickly, warm from the oven.
Encouraged by crisp air, fond memories and beautiful autumnal colors, I decided it was time to bake grape focaccia again, this time doing a bit of research to learn more about it.
Schiacciata means “flattened down ” or “crushed” in Italian and schiacciata con l’uva is often translated as “crushed with grapes.” Schiacciata is the Tuscan term for flatbread— elsewhere in Italy, called focaccia (meaning hearth or fireside in Latin). It is unclear why the regional name difference, but grape focaccia is a serviceable English translation.
Why is the bread called “crushed? There are three explanations: First, focaccia is crushed or flattened with the baker’s fingers, leaving characteristic pockmarks along the top of the dough that hold pools of virgin olive oil, salt and other flavorings. Second, food historians suggest that schiacciata with its Etruscan roots, a fall staple in Tuscany’s ancient viticulture tradition, originated with poor, frugal winemakers who combined leftover grapes crushed in winemaking with dough into a fall bread. A third explanation is that the whole grapes which stud the top of the focaccia, flatten or crush in the baking, oozing juice into the bread.
Whatever the rationale for its Italian name, grape focaccia is an autumnal treat throughout Italy where grapes are cultivated. This combination of grapes and bread dough is an example of simple Italian seasonal cooking. As Leonardo da Vinci famously opined, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication,” and grape focaccia’s simple ingredients (flour, yeast, olive oil, sugar, salt and grapes) prove the point that a few simple ingredients can create a superb result.
During the September and October wine-grape harvest (vendemmia), Italians bake two versions of a grape focaccia, a not-too-sweet bread and sweeter versions for dessert.
The savory version is a one-layer flat bread, studded with grapes and flavored with sea salt, olive oil and various herbs. The pleasant sweetness of grapes is enhanced by savory ingredients. This version is eaten as baked or as a sandwich filled with meat or cheese.
Several sweet versions are baked as well. In a simple one-layer version, the same dough is merely dotted with wine grapes, sprinkled with sugar, anise seeds and olive oil. A more festive version is made by layering grapes between two thin sheets of bread dough, and then studding the top with additional grapes, seasoning everything with sugar and olive oil, and sometimes rosemary or anise seed, which give it a unique character.
Carignane grape variety on top; Concord grapes (more frosted) on bottom
There are many variations of savory and sweet grape focaccia. Some recipes suggest splitting the grapes in half. Some recipes call for adding olive oil into the dough; some for adding sugar. In other recipes, herbs and occasionally grapes are kneaded into the bread dough. One sweet recipe even substitutes butter for olive oil.
A word about grapes: Initially, grape focaccia was exclusively prepared in Italy with canaiola grapes, but a variety of small, dark grapes with tiny seeds, part of the Chianti wine blend common to Tuscany, and other grape varietals such as uva fregola or uva fragolino (also known as strawberry grapes), are used when canaiola are harder to find. Neither Italian variety is available in North America. Generally, grape varieties with large and slightly juicy grains are preferred for the schiacciata. While black wine grapes, such as Thompson, Concord or the hybrid Thomcord, available in America, are mentioned in recipes and preferred by some bakers, other varieties of seeded or seedless grapes with varying sweetness also produce a great result.
A note on grape seeds: Aficionados of grape focaccia divide into a with-seeds (con semi) and without-seeds (senza semi) groups. But my unscientific review of Italian recipes shows that Italian bakers generally oppose deseeding grapes for focaccia, asserting that the crunch of seeds is an essential feature of the original recipe. They disparage deseeding saying “Schiacciata con l’uva wouldn’t be the same without those crunchy seeds.” It is doubtful that Etruscans and rural winemakers removed the seeds when baking grape focaccia, and to my taste, grape seeds add a bitter crunchiness to the grape focaccia making it inedible. While deseeding grapes is a tedious task, it is worth doing.
Although the recipe I provide makes one large focaccia, I divided the dough in half and made two smaller focaccias – one savory and the other sweet.
Savory grape focaccia, ready to bake
Sweet grape focaccia, ready to bake
In preparing the savory grape focaccia, I bucked Italian tradition by using several varieties of black, red and green wine and table grapes, deseeded and seedless for a scrumptious grape focaccia with rosemary and salt. This savory focaccia has a piney, sweet-salty taste, nice and crispy on the outside yet soft inside. This bread has perfect texture and taste and a tender, light crumb. It is easy to split in half for sandwiches. My favorite sandwich involves spreading mayonnaise or butter on each half, then layering thin slices of ham, Fontina and arugula for a delicious mouthful.
I modified the savory dough as indicated in Italian recipes to make the sweet version by adding one tablespoon of sugar to the dough, substituting the rosemary topping with 2 teaspoons of ground anise seed and sprinkling several tablespoons of coarse sugar over the top. I followed Italian bakers’ wisdom that only black wine grapes produce the essential luscious sweet focaccia topping, which is excellent advice. Only two types of wine grapes were available in Chicago – Concord and Carignane and I used them both with a tasty result. Although this sweet focaccia is delicious on its own as a snack, we enjoyed it for breakfast, spread with whipped cream cheese, which wonderfully enhances the taste of the wine grapes.
Of course, grapes can be omitted from focaccia altogether. There are infinite toppings for focaccia: just olive oil or combined with various herbs, garlic, shallots, onions. Whatever the topping, the tenderness of the bread makes it a special treat.
Grape Focaccia with Rosemary and Sea Salt
2 cups warm water (105°F to 115°F; 41°C to 46°C)
2 teaspoons dry yeast
5 cups (576 g) tipo “00”* or all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons (12 g) sea salt plus 1 teaspoon (6 g) for topping
6 tablespoons (82 g) extra virgin olive oil
16 ounces (453.5 g) assorted black, red or green grapes, seeded or seedless
1 tablespoon (2 g) fresh rosemary, chopped, or 1½ teaspoons (1.5 g) dried rosemary
Preparing dough: Place 2 cups warm water in large bowl. Sprinkle dry yeast over water; stir with a fork to dissolve. Let stand until yeast foams, about 10 minutes.
In a separate bowl combine 4½ cups (576 g) flour and salt and slowly add to yeast mixture, stirring to blend well (dough will be sticky). Knead dough on floured surface until smooth and elastic, adding more of the remaining flour by tablespoonfuls if the dough is sticky, about 10 minutes. (If using a stand mixer, combine flour, salt and yeast mixture in a large bowl and, using a dough hook, knead for 5 minutes or until dough cleans the side of the bowl.)
Form dough into a ball. Oil large bowl; add dough, turning to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in the refrigerator overnight (12 to 14 hours) until doubled.
The next morning, remove dough from refrigerator and let rest on the counter for 1 hour until it reaches room temperature. Lightly oil the work surface with olive oil and turn the dough onto the oiled work surface. Punch down dough and shape dough into a rectangle approximately 8-inch x 12- inch (20 cm x 25 cm). Drizzle surface of dough with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Stretch and fold short sides of dough to center, folding and pinching the seams together. Then, fold ends under and return to the same bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm area until doubled, about 1 hour or less.
Pre-heat oven to 400°F (200° C).
Preparing grapes: Wash and dry seedless grapes. Set aside. Wash and dry seeded grapes and with a very sharp knife, cut each grape in half and remove seeds with a knife tip. (Keep in mind that the number of seeds in each grape variety differs from 2 to 4, so make sure you remove all seeds.)
Assembling focaccia: Coat 10-inch x14-inch (25 cm x 35 cm} baking sheet with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Punch down dough. Transfer to prepared sheet. Let dough rest 10 minutes.
Drizzle 2 tablespoons oil over dough. Using fingertips, press and dimple the surface of the focaccia to expand the focaccia into a 10-inch x 14-inch (25 cm x 35 cm) rectangle.
Sprinkle 1 teaspoon sea salt over the top of the focaccia. Distribute whole seedless grapes and halved deseeded grapes randomly over the top, pressing into dough. Sprinkle the top with the chopped rosemary. Let dough rise uncovered in a warm area until puffy, about 25-30 minutes.
Bake focaccia in oven center for ten minutes, turn and continue baking until a thermometer inserted into the focaccia reads 180°F (82°C). Remove from oven to cooling rack and immediately drizzle olive oil over the baked focaccia. Sprinkle the top with additional chopped rosemary.
Baked savory grape focaccia
Baked sweet grape focaccia
Cool focaccia for 20 minutes before cutting and eating. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Serves 8-10
Savory grape focaccia ham and cheese
Sweet grape focaccia with whipped cream cheese
*Tipo 00 flour is finely milled Italian flour commonly used for pizzas and focaccias. It is the finest grade of flour milled in Italy with a consistency similar to baby powder. It is available with several different levels of protein intended for different baking projects. In America, most brands of Tipp 00 flour sold on Amazon and at Whole Foods stores have the same protein content.
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