This potato based Italian dish is easy to make, but does require work, like all Italian dishes. Schiacciata in Italian means flattened and since this is technically a bread, we can deduce that it’s a flattened bread. In Italy it’s generally served as a starter either as bread like you would focaccia bread, or with stuff on top like meat, cheese, and basil. It also works as a side dish or with eggs at breakfast as a hashbrowns substitute (see note 3 below).
Ingredients
- 350 g Potato – peeled and grated, ~ 1 large potato
- 350 ml warm water, ~ 12 oz
- 200 g Flour, 1.75 cups
- 33 g Olive oil, ~ 3TBL
- 2 TBL Parmesan – grated – can use the cheap stuff in plastic bottles
- 8 g Kosher salt, ~1 tsp
- 1.7 g Black Pepper, ~0.5 tsp
- 0.7 g dried Rosemary, ~0.5 tsp
Process
- Mise en Place – Measure and prepare your ingredients prior to starting.
- Preheat oven to 350 F (200C).
- Mix flour water, olive oil, and salt into a smooth batter.
- Stir in Parmesan.
- Mix potatoes into batter (dough will be runny).
- Line baking pan with paper and grease with olive oil.
- Pour the batter in the pan and spread to even thickness.
- Bake until golden brown on top (~40 min)*.
*Note 1: The thinner you make it, the quicker it cooks. For thicker bread, use a smaller pan.
Note 2: You can make it soft and chewy or hard and crispy, depends on how you intend to serve it.
Note 3: For breakfast, use a biscuit cutter to cut out patties that can be served like a side of hashbrowns or with a sausage and fried egg on top with melted cheese like an open face sandwich.
Note 4: Traditionally you’d slice the potatoes thin, but that’s a lot of work and I don’t think it has as good a texture as grated potatoes but it’s your schiacciata so do as you please.
