Similar to focaccia, schiacciata is a Tuscan bread that’s large and thin, crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, and absolutely perfect for making Italian sandwiches.
I talk a lot on here about my niece Scarlet, but last week my brother and sister-in-law welcomed a new member of the family. My baby nephew Theo couldn’t be more sweet and perfect. While I don’t have kids myself, I can imagine there must be no greater joy than holding your newborn baby. But giving birth also brings the joy of being able to eat all the foods that you couldn’t during pregnancy: sushi, rare meat, and of course all those Italian deli meats and cheeses. So to celebrate Theo’s birth and my sister-in-law’s liberation from her food restrictions, I decided to make Italian sandwiches. And after hearing a lot about a famous Florentine sandwich shop that serves their sandwiches on a bread called schiacciata, I decided to try making this bread myself for the celebratory meal. And it really is the perfect vessel for an Italian sandwich.
A FAMOUS FLORENTINE SANDWICH
Recently I’ve been hearing a lot about the famous Italian sandwich shop All’Antico Viano. The shop is based out of Florence, and I’ve seen videos of the lines for these sandwiches stretching for blocks and blocks. These sandwiches are widely considered some of the best in the world, and one of the greatest street food experiences. At first glance, the ingredients used seem typical for Italian sandwiches. Deli meats like prosciutto and capocollo, sundried tomatoes, roasted eggplant. It seems that what makes these sandwiches truly special, besides the highest quality and freshest ingredients of course, is the bread that they are served on: schiacciata.
While All’Antico Viano is most certainly on my list for out next trip to Italy, there are actually three locations of the shop here in New York. I have yet to try one (but I will be very soon). But I was so intrigued by the bread that I just couldn’t wait to try making it myself. Schiacciata is actually very similar to focaccia. It’s not thick like a typical loaf of bread, instead stretching wider and thinner, baked on a sheet pan or large surface. And typical of focaccia, you bake it with tons of olive oil and a generous sprinkle of flaky salt. But it’s actually not quite as airy as focaccia, making it the perfect vessel for an Italian sandwich. It bakes up with a super crusty bottom crust (thanks to all that olive oil) and a denser center to hold in all those yummy sandwich ingredients.
BAKING SCHIACCIATA
This recipe for schiacciata is actually pretty simple. You can bake it without any special ingredients or particular bread baking ability. But like any good bread, it will take you a little bit of time to make it. Almost every recipe I came across for this bread called for a making a pre-ferment (sometimes called a poolish), basically a combination of yeast, water and flour that you let ferment overnight before mixing it into the dough. This gives the bread a richer flavor and a crustier crust, allowing it to stand up to all those sandwich ingredients. After fermenting the poolish, I simply mixed more flour and water into the dough and let it rise. The recipe also calls for “folding” this dough every thirty minutes during it’s rise, to allow the dough to build strength and elasticity.
Once risen, you will stretch your dough out onto a (very heavily oiled) baking sheet and allow it to rise for another two hours. Then use your fingers to give it those trademark focaccia dimples, drizzle it with lots more olive oil and flaky salt, and bake. The resulting bread has a gorgeously crispy crust, an airy center that can still stand up to sandwich ingredients, and that luxurious olive oil taste. Slice it into squares and then crosswise, and pile it with your favorite sandwich ingredients. We stacked ours with pesto, sun dried tomatoes, roasted peppers, prosciutto, hot and sweet sopressata, mozzarella and provolone. And according to my brother this will be one of the best sandwiches you’ll ever eat.
Tuscan Schiacciata Bread
Ingredients
For the pre-ferment
- 2 g active dry yeast
- 250 g bread flour
- 250 g warm water
For the bread dough
- 500 g pre-fermented dough (see recipe above)
- 500 g all purpose flour
- 250 g water
- 6 g salt
- extra virgin olive oil
- flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Make the pre-fermented dough. Mix together water, flour and yeast. Let sit for 6-12 hours, preferably overnight.
- Make the schiacciata dough. In a large bowl, combine the pre-fermented dough along with 500 grams flour, 250 grams water and 6 grams salt. Mix until a shaggy dough forms, then knead with your hands until the dough is smooth and elastic but still slightly sticky, 5-10 minutes. If the dough seems very sticky and isn't coming together, add a little more flour.
- Add a good drizzle of olive oil to the bowl and turn the ball of dough to coat well. Then cover with a damp kitchen towel and allow to rise for two hours, folding the dough over on itself a few times every 30 minutes for this first rise.
- Drizzle a sheet pan with a generous amount of olive oil. Then stretch the risen dough out onto the sheet pan, doing your best to make it reach all the corners and sides. If you're having trouble stretching the dough (it's very elastic), let it rest for about 5 minutes between stretches.
- Cover the stretched dough with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and allow to rise again, 2 hours.
- While the dough is rising, preheat oven to 450. Once risen, use your fingertips to dimple the dough. Then coat it in another generous amount of olive oil and sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
- Bake the dough for 20-25 minutes, until it is golden brown and the bottom is nice and crusty. Allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before slicing into squares and then slicing across to make sandwiches.
This sounds delicious! Do you think this would be a great start to make into a Sicilian type pizza?
Yes for sure!
Si ilar to sciacciata catanese and pizza bianca romana.
recipe worked great. I refrigerated the dough after 1st proof, pulled dough out and let dough warm a little then allowed for 2nd proof in baking pan. Delicious and can’t wait to toast tomorrow for a BLT with a fried egg!
Yay! So happy it worked well for you!
Sounds like a focaccia but just stretched out on a flat baking sheet. No?
Yes, very very similar! Some say schiacciata has less liquid content, making it easier to stretch thin like that than focaccia and therefore more thin and crispy rather than thick and airy like focaccia.
It’s beautiful! I haven’t tasted it yet but since I eat with my eyes, I already know. Lots of steps and my scale didn’t cooperate but it’s all worth it.
Thank you!
What size sheet pan?
Sorry about that! A standard half sheet pan, 18×13.
Hi! Do you think there would be a difference between quick-ride and active dry yeast for the pre-ferment and if so how much should the preferment have been grown (or if it should grow at all) Thanks 🙂
Hi there! You could definitely use quick-rise yeast in place of the active dry yeast in this recipe, and use it in the exact same quantity and way. The quick-rise just rises faster, but other than that there shouldn’t be much of a difference!
In a video about All’Antico Viano they mentioned that they bake it like tuscan bread, without any salt. What do you think about this?
Interesting, I hadn’t heard that. I can understand the reasoning for this, Italian sandwich ingredients are often very salty. But personally I think that salt is necessary for any type of bread!
Hi, great recipe! Do you think it would be possible to put the baked bread in the freezer?
Yes for sure! I do this with bread all the time!
Hi there, great looking recipe. I’m just wondering about the temperatures for each ferment. I live in a warm climate and wondered if they will rise too quickly. I also have the ability to temperature-control a fridge (I brew beer) and was wondering if you have an optimum temperature.
Thanks very much,
Bob
Hi there! A warm temperature is actually better for rising bread. I often put my dough on top of a radiators or on top of the oven if its on to rise. I’d say if its really hot, like 90 degrees or more, I’d try to put it in a cooler place to rise, but around 75-80 degrees is perfect for rising bread.
Thank you for your reply, I will give that a go.
Fantastic recipe! Only thing we will change the next time is adding 3g more salt. I could eat this every day. Thank you for sharing this.
What size of pan do you suggest for this amount of dough? Can I substitute part of the pre-ferment with sourdough?
A half sheet pan size, 18×13 inches.
I’m looking forward to making this. I grind my own wheat. Could I use all freshly milled hard white and/or red wheat (no all purpose flour)?
That’s a good question! I’d think if you use your freshly ground wheat the same way you would all purpose in other recipes, it should work fine for this one!
I read something about bread flour vs all-purpose flour: bread flour has a higher protein content. So I read more about hard red vs hard white (there’s winter and spring wheat but the wheat I buy from a coop is only labeled organic hard whichever), so I figured the higher protein might help the preferment/artisancrustiness while the lower protein might help the soft thinness overall. I used hard red for the preferment and hard white for the next addition. It is for small chicken salad sandwiches for our church women’s luncheon tomorrow. I’ll let you know how it turns out! I’m sure it will be great. How can homemade bread vs store-bought not be great!?