A customer sent us this recipe she makes every year using Lynden Blue grapes. Other grapes that would work well are Glenora, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, or Muscat of Norway.

• 500 gr plain flour (4 cups)
• Around 400 ml lukewarm water (13.5 oz)
• 7 gr dried yeast (2 ¼ tsp)
• a bunch (about 250 gr or 8-9 oz) of fresh concord or other sweet red grapes
• 5-6 tablespoons caster or raw sugar
• 3-4 generous glugs of extra virgin olive oil
• icing (confectioner’s) sugar for dusting, optional

Preparing the dough:

Prepare the dough for the schiacciata, this can be done the night before you need to bake it, or a couple of hours ahead of time.

Dissolve the yeast in a little bit (a few tablespoons) of the lukewarm water with a tablespoon of the flour. Leave aside until little bubbles begin to form – if this doesn’t happen, throw it out and start again. Sift the flour into a bowl and add the yeast mixture. Mix to combine. You can do this in a food processor or by hand. Bit by bit add the rest of the water, working the dough after each addition. This is important to allow the flour to absorb all the water. Good flour can absorb even 70-80% of its weight in water. If, while adding the water, you see that it’s losing its ‘doughness’ and becoming a batter, then stop, add a bit more flour until it returns to a dough. Add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil to the dough.

Place the dough onto a well floured surface and knead for about 5-10 minutes or until the dough bounces back when you poke it. Roll into a ball and place it back into the bowl. Cover with a damp cloth and set it in a warm place, away from drafts, until it doubles in size (about one hour). If you do this the night before, you can leave the dough in the bowl to rise in the fridge – it will rise slowly, and this will result in superior flavor and smell.

Assembling the schiacciata:

Wash and pat dry the grapes and separate them from the stem, no need to deseed them, Tuscans eat them with the seeds and all.

When the dough has risen, line a rectangular baking pan with some baking paper and heat the oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Take the dough out of the bowl with well-floured hands as (if it is successful), it will be very sticky! Divide the dough into two balls, one slightly larger than the other. Roll out the larger ball on a well-floured surface roughly to the size of your pan, no more than 1cm thick. Lay the dough in the pan, pushing the dough to the corners and sides with your fingers if necessary.

Divide about two thirds of the grapes and scatter them on top of the first dough layer and sprinkle half of the sugar over, with a drizzle of olive oil.

Roll out the second ball of dough to the size of the pan and cover the grapes with this second layer of dough, rolling up the edges of the bottom layer of dough from underneath to the top, to close the schiacciata. Gently, with your fingers, push down on the surface of the dough to create little ‘craters’ all over.

Cover the top with the rest of the grapes and sprinkle the remaining sugar over the top. Drizzle with olive oil and bake for about 25-30 minutes or until the dough becomes golden and crunchy on top and the grapes are oozing and cooked.

Allow to cool completely. When ready to serve, cut into squares and dust generously with icing sugar, if using. This is best served and eaten the day of baking, or at the most the next day.

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