Typical dessert of the Tuscan tradition, the Crushed With The Grapes it is a focaccia prepared with the dough of bread already leavened to which fresh grapes are added. And just because thegrapes is the protagonist of this dessert, the schiacciata is prepared and tasted in the months of September and October, dedicated to the harvest. It is a poor dish and requires only a few simple ingredients for its preparation: bread dough, olive oil, sugar and precisely black grapes.

Crushed, pan with grapes or crushes?

The crushed with grapes is just one of the many versions of crushed desserts prepared in Tuscany. It is typical above all in Florence and Prato but can also be found in other cities and there are different names to refer to this dish. In the Tuscan capital, for example, it is also called pan with grapes or stiaccia while in some areas of the hinterland of the province of Grosseto it is called crush with grapes. Its origins are very ancient and date back to the Etruscan era. Since then, the recipe has been handed down to the present day and today it is a dish that cannot be missed during the harvest, a rite very felt in Tuscany.

Strictly Canaiola grape

Tradition has it that the schiacciata is prepared with a particular type of grape, namely thecanaiola grape. This vine produces bunches that have not very large and slightly watery grains that are not suitable for vinification. Canaiola grape is characterized by its natural sweetness, which gives the sweet an unmistakable softness. In the original version, it is absolutely forbidden to remove the seeds from the grapes that are a characteristic of the sweet focaccia.

How to prepare the schiacciata

If you want to try to prepare this typical Tuscan dessert, you have to get your hands together in the true sense of the word. The first step involves preparing the bread dough. Dissolve 12 g of fresh brewer's yeast in a little warm water, which you will take from the 300 ml that you will need later. Add a teaspoon of malt, stir and then let stand for a few minutes. Sift 500 g of flour with a pinch of salt, pour it on a pastry board forming a hole in the center, and pour the melted yeast. Begin to make the yeast absorb the flour and then continue to work the dough by adding the other water. Knead for about 10 minutes until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. At this point, form a ball, place it in a bowl, covered with a film or a damp cloth, and let it rise for a couple of hours in the oven, turned off and closed but with the light on. When the dough has doubled in volume, place it back on the floured pastry board, add 50 g of sugar and 4 tablespoons of oil and work it again for about 5 minutes. Wash the grapes, 800 g, and remove all the berries. Divide the dough into two equal parts and, with the help of a rolling pin, roll them out to obtain a thickness of 1 cm. Oil a baking pan, roll out one of the two sheets and cover it with half the grapes, a tablespoon of sugar and two tablespoons of evo. Cover with the other sheet, on which the remaining grapes are to be placed. Sprinkle with sugar and sprinkle the surface with another two tablespoons of oil. Bake for 50-60 minutes in a preheated oven at 180 °.