Tuscan Inspired “Grape Focaccia”
Our 1st annual “3 Italian Sister Italian Exploration Tour” to Tuscany and Umbria was just amazing… What an enchanted experience. Here are a few pics from our visit to the beautiful town of San Gimignano.
As we strolled along the lovely cobblestone streets of San Gimignano, one of our friends, Bill stopped in a local bakery to try out an unusual grape focaccia called “Schiacciata all ova. Bill came over to me and asked, “Have you ever tasted this? I said, “OMG..what a find!”. I told him this is a very traditional grape focaccia made only during the grape harvest season in September and early October. So, just our luck, we were there during this special time. Here is a picture of the schiacciata all uva and Bill enjoying it with pure delight!
When we arrived home, I was inspired to recreate this focaccia for our October cooking class and thought I would surprise them with something truly unique. Interestingly, when I researched how to prepare it, I found that it is made with two layers of dough and grapes with a sprinkling of sugar which gives that the dough that rich golden color and crunch factor.
We had to improvise by using black seedless grapes instead of the traditional sangiovese grapes used in Tuscany and found that the black seedless are a bit more juicy much larger than the sangiovese grape but the flavor and sweetness was still achieved
We started by making a basic focaccia dough. (recipe below) You will need 2 doughs for this recipe. * If you don’t want to make the dough, use pre-made pizza dough… but don’t forget to let it rise two times before adding the toppings.
After the fist rising, stretch or roll out one dough into a greased rectangular cookie sheet. Cover the dough and let rise again for 30 -45 minutes. Roll out the 2nd piece of dough into same shape, cover and set aside for 2nd layer.
In the meantime, rinse and dry grapes with paper towels.
Uncover one dough and spread a generous amount of grapes on top of the dough. Press the grapes gently into the dough. Sprinkle with granulated sugar and add a sprig of fresh rosemary leaves and olive oil …Rosemary leaves are optional but adds a nice herbal flavor..
Cover grapes with the other reserved dough and repeat with another layer of grapes, sugar, rosemary and a sprinkling of olive oil. 
Bake focaccia in a preheated 425 degree oven for approximately 45 minutes or until dough is crispy and lightly browned.. Remove focaccia from oven and let rest for 15 minutes before slicing. Enjoy…it is a flavor you won’t soon forget.. Buon appetito
- Focaccia Dough ( 1 dough)
- 1 tsp. dry yeast
- 2 tbsp. sugar
- 3-1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- GRAPE TOPPING
- 1 lb black seedless grapes or wine grapes
- 1/2 cup sugar
- olive oil
- fresh rosemary sprig
- In a small bowl, mix dry yeast, 1 tsp. sugar, 1/4 cup water and heat it to 120 degrees F. Let the mixture rest for about 10 minutes or until it becomes bubbly. In the meantime, mix the flour, rest of the sugar and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the mixture.
- Place the yeast mixture and a tbsp. of oil and cup of hot water in center of well. Mix with the flour mixture until it forms a dough.
- Move dough onto a smooth surface and knead until smooth and elastic.
- Form dough into a ball- coat with a little oil and place dough in a bowl and cover with a towel and place in a warm area of kitchen. Let rest until it doubles in size
- Spread dough out onto greased rectangular cookie sheet – cover and let rest for another 30 minutes.
- It is ready for toppings.
- This grape focaccia will require two doughs
- wash and dry grapes. Place grapes randomly on top of dough.
- sprinkle with sugar and rosemary leaves and olive oil. Press mixture into dough
- Roll out other piece of dough into rectangular shape and place dough on top of grapes and top dough with another layer of grapes, rosemary, sugar and olive oil
- Bake in preheated 425 degree oven until dough is toasty and browned.
- Let rest for 10 minutes …..then slice and serve.
- Kathleen Barbato…3 Italian Sisters 2016
