The autumn has come (though the summer seems to have decided to come back for a few days at the moment in UK), and some of the posts on TFL are reflecting the change of season. Floyd’s post [1] on the beautiful grape focaccia was one of them.

Tuscan speciality, Schiacciata con L’Ulva (or grape focaccia, for people outside Tuscany) is one of many breads I’d been meaning to bake but hadn’t yet.  But the colour of the juice oozing from the grapes on Floyd’s picture looked so enticing, I decided I really need to give it a try, at long last.

The authentic one is made with black grapes, but I only had red grapes at hand when I felt the sudden impulse to bake it.  I could've waited until next day when I was due to go grocer-shopping, but thought I didn't do it then and there, I might leave it forever again, so it's Red Grape schiacciata I made. Also instead of sweet version of Tuscan original, which sometimes uses raisins in the filling, too, I only put much smaller amount of sugar in the dough (my trusted, regular sourdough focaccia dough + added sugar. See below) to make it savour to accompany the sautéed pork with blue cheese for dinner.  And lots of rosemary, of course, and a bit of black pepper and coarse sea salt as  a subtle contrast to the sweetness of grapes. 

Sourdough Schiacciata con L'Ulva - Savory and unauthentic, but who cares, it tastes good! :p

INGREDIENTS

   For Dough

      Starter (70% hydration)   70g

      Strong flour   100g

     Plain flour    100g

     Skimmed milk powder    1 tbls

     Sugar  1 tsp

     Salt  4g

    Extra Virgin Olive Oil  2 tbls

    Water   155 - 160g (78-80%)

  For Filling/Topping

    Grapes   200-250g

    Rosemary

    Freshly, coarsely ground black pepper

    Coarse sea salt

    Olive oil

 METHOD

1. Mix all the ingredients for the dough and autolyse for 30 minutes.
2. S & F 3 times in the bowl every 40 minutes or so until medium gluten development.
3. Put in the fridge and cold retard for overnight – 18 hrs.
4. Take it out of the fridge and leave for 30 minutes at room temperature.
5. Spread the dough on a lightly-oiled worktop and scatter a half of grapes and rosemary on a half of the dough.

   6.  Fold the other half of the dough (the part without grapes/rosemary) over to cover the grapes/rosemary.

                Note : If you feel the dough lacks gluten development at this stage, you can gently letter-fold once to remedy that. (Try not to deflate the dough, though)

   7.  Scatter the remaining grapes and rosemary, lightly pressing down the grapes into the dough.

  8. Cover and proof for 40 minutes – 1 hr until it almost double in size.

  9.  Pre-heat the oven and baking stone at 250C.

 10.   When ready to bake, lightly press down grapes again,  if necessary. Drizzle some olive oil all over with sprinkle of black pepper and a tiny amount of coarse sea salt on top. 
 11.  Place on the baking stone, shut the oven door and lower the temperature to 200C.
 12.  Bake for 30 – 35 minutes until puffed up and golden.
 13.  Cool on the rack before serving.

......and I'm supposed to paste a photo here to show you how it turned out.  But in the midst of hectic dinner preparation, I forgot to take the pictures.....::sigh::

 So this is the picture of a remaining piece next day.....

.....no, showing two pics of a same piece taken from different angles doesn't really make them look whole....what a silly trick.....:p

Crumb shot

Made into sandwich for lunch, which worked perfectly with stilton and salad.

 I think it'd be good with cold chicken, too.  Really, this is worth making just for making it into sandwiches next day, too.

lumos