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Prep time
1 hour 30 minutes
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Cook time
25 minutes
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Makes
1 large schiacciata
Author Notes
Italian bread recipe that's great for sharing, dunking in fonduta, and just snacking. Roasted vine tomatoes and pesto give it an incredible flavour —Lynn Clark
Ingredients
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300 grams
Strong white bread flour
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1 splash
Olive oil
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190 milliliters
tepid water
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1 teaspoon
fast acting dried yeast
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1 teaspoon
sugar
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1.25 tablespoons
Extra virgin olive oil
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2 teaspoons
Sea salt
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1 packet
Vine tomatoes
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10 teaspoons
Red pesto
Directions
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Mix the sugar and yeast into the tepid water (in a jug or bowl) and leave for 10 minutes
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In a large bowl, measure out your flour and make a well in the middle
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Tip the water/sugar/yeast into the well you just made, plus add the 1.25 tablespoons of olive oil
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Mix together into a rough shaggy mess, cover with a linen cloth (or whatever you normally use) and leave for 10 minutes (to give the gluten development a kick start and make kneading easier)
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Tip the messy dough out and knead for about 8 minutes. The dough is a little sticky but will become smooth and glossy with kneading
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Spread a little extra oil on your hands and then lubricate the bowl. Round the ball of dough off using your oiled hands and place it in the bowl, recovering it
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Leave the dough to proof for about 30 minutes in a warm (but not hot) area
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When risen (to not quite doubled in size), tip the dough ball back out on to your working surface
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Knock the air bubbles out of the dough with a brief knead
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Sprinkle some flour onto the base of a large baking sheet/tray and put your oven on to 220C fan/240C conventional/470 F
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On your work surface, press out the dough as thinly as you can – you should be able to stretch it to about 28 cm (11-12 inches) in width and almost twice as long – a large oval. (You can use a rolling pin for this process)
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Dot over about 5 teaspoonfuls of the pesto onto ONE HALF only of the rolled/pressed out dough
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Fold the plain half of the dough over on itself to sandwich the pesto in between
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Roll or press out the dough to a neat oval shape, enlarging it slightly – the schiacciata should take up about 80% of a large baking tray: about 28cm/11" width, 38cm/18" in length,
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Lift it up carefully and place on the baking tray
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Pinch the edges together on the three sides (other than the folded edge) and leave to proof (covered with a cloth again) for 20 - 30 minutes
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After it's risen again, use your finger tips to make indentations across the top for the oil
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Drizzle some olive oil all over the dough, moving it about with your fingers if there are conspicuously dry patches anywhere
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Dot several more teaspoonfuls of the pesto over the top of the dough, dispersing it about a little with the back of the spoon (but don’t ‘spread’ it out as you did with the first layer)
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Sprinkle or grind the sea salt all over the dough (remember there is none in the dough itself so you do need a little more than just a light seasoning)
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After 10 minutes, turn the oven down to 190 C fan / 210 C conventional/400F and bake for a further 12 – 15 minutes.
When baked, transfer to a wire rack to cool
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