La Schiacciata con l’uva is a typical Autumn cake in the Tuscan countryside. It is an original recipe of Chianti, traditionally prepared between September and October, the perfect moment when grapes are ripe. According to tradition it is more like a flatbread than a cake, as it is a traditional poor dish: the base being a sort of bread dough, olive oil, a bit of sugar and ripe grapes. The right grapes following the traditional recipes is the Canaiolo: an autoctonous Tuscan grape, dark and juicy which is part of the traditional recipe of the Chianti wine, and it’s also perfect for the schiacciata.
Here at Poggio al Bosco we start preparing it every September and the risk is eating it every day. We asked the recipe to Nonna Maria that she replys us: ‘La ricetta un ce l’ho mica, la schiacciata la fo sempre a occhio’, which translated means she hasn’t a specific recipe for this dish, as she still bakes it following the oral recipe she learned by watching the women of her family prepare it. So the only way for us to learn it was to observe her while she was preparing it in the kitchen and write down the doses and procedure, which we are happy to share with you.
Ingredients:600 gr of flour, beer yeast, water, rosmarine, oil, anise seeds, sugar.
Preparation: Prepare the bread for the base of the schiacciata slowly pouring the water in the flour and yeast. Let the dough rest for 2 hours, to allow fermentation. Put in a hot pan oil and rosmarine and add to the dough, also add the anise seeds, the sugar and a bit of grapes. Put the dough in a baking pot well oiled and put the rest of the grapes on top. Cook in the oven at 160° for 60 minutes.
But every woman in Chianti region has her version of the ‘schiacciata con l’uva’ and so we want to share with you also the more modern and refined version of mamma Donatella, which is also more similar to a soft cake.
Ingredients:1,5 glasses of milk, 1 glass of oil, 1,5 glasses of water, 3 glasses of flour, beer yeast, grape.
Preparation: After mixing all the ingredients together, put the dough in an oven papered tin and spread the rest of the grapes on top. Cook in the oven at 200° for 40 minutes.
Taste it with a small glass of our Vin Santo del Chianti Reserve and enjoy a perfect Tuscan pairings (Nonna Maria gives you an example in the picture) 😋
