Sourdough Focaccia with Grapes (Schiacciata All’uva)

Sourdough focaccia with grapes or shiacciata all’uva, is a focaccia dough baked with fresh grapes. This Italian bread is crisp, jammy, and found throughout the Tuscany region during the wine harvest.

Tuscans have a beautiful simplicity about their cuisine that is hard to beat. Many recipes using up things like day old bread or in this case, grapes that would otherwise go bad. This old-world grape harvesters’ focaccia is exactly that. At first glance, it might appear to be odd to combine savory flavors like rosemary and focaccia dough with the sweetness of grapes. But this crunchy bread has a beautiful flavor and a lovely presentation that it is easy to see why it is so popular within the Tuscany region during the grape harvest. With a handful of ingredients. and a simple sourdough focaccia recipe I have made a sourdough version of it.

And just like the Tuscans, it is time for us to harvest our grapes as well. With a similar climate here in Northern California, the grapes grow prolific, and our varieties vary greatly. Presently it’s our common wine grapes that are ready to be picked. These are great for jams, fresh eating, baking and of course, wine making. 

 Today we spent the better part of our morning clipping the heavy bundles from the vines and separating the dark red grapes from the stem. It is tedious work but worth the pay off. I stood under the shade of our pergola, rolling out the sticky dough and arranging the grapes. Just like standard rosemary focaccia, this shiacciata all’uva or grape focaccia is best eaten fresh. 

And if you have grapes to harvest, it becomes a tasty tradition to the start of a gorgeous season ahead.

Harvest and Bake with Me

Sourdough Focaccia with Grapes Is…

• One of the most unique focaccia bread recipes.
• Made with an active starter over commercial yeast.
• Slowly risen through bulk fermentation.
• One of the best ways to use up grapes from a harvest.
• Also known as schiacciata con l’uva and is a traditional Tuscan bread.

Ingredients

Starter- use a bubbly, active sourdough starter when first mixing the dough. You can also opt to use a standard yeast dough, which is commonly used in Italy. 

Flour- I use bread flour for this recipe, but you can also use all-purpose flour and yield similar results. 

Water- standard drinking water is fine. Room temperature water is ideal. 

Salt- I use sea salt in my kitchen however, pink Himalayan salt or standard table salt will work fine too. 

Grapes- schiacciata all’uva is traditionally made with wine grapes like uva canaiola and the more common uva fragola however, I use the grapes harvested from both my parent’s property and my own. A mixture of concord grapes and other wine varieties and have found each of them makes a delicious focaccia with grapes. Use a sweet grape over a bitter variety and seedless if possible.

Herbs- fresh rosemary blends wonderfully with the sweetness of grapes.  Use fresh over dried for this. It adds to the fresh notes of this bread.

Oil- I use extra virgin olive oil for this, and a good quality one does make a difference in flavor so use the best you’ve got. You can use pure olive oil if you prefer. 

Sugar- I use pure unrefined sugar for this although standard pure cane sugar is fine too.

Tools

Baking Sheet

Parchment Paper (optional)

Large Bowl

Rolling Pin

Bench Scraper

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the flour, water, starter, olive oil and salt with a fork.

Cover the dough and allow it to rest for 30 minutes. After the initial rest period, uncover the dough, pick up one side, stretch it up, and fold it over itself. Turn the bowl slightly, grab another edge, stretch it up, and fold it over itself. Continue to do this for two more turns of the bowl. Re-cover the dough with a tea towel and allow it to rest for 25 minutes. This completes one set of stretch and folds. After the 25-minute rest period, uncover the dough and complete four stretch and folds exactly the same as before. Re-cover the dough and allow it to rest for 25 minutes. Continue on for two more sets with a 25-minute rest between. 

On the final set, cover the dough and allow it to bulk ferment for about 8 hours or until the dough ball has doubled in size.

Punch the dough ball down to release the air and place it on a lightly floured work surface. Halve the dough. Cut a large piece of parchment paper, drizzle it with a little olive oil, and place one-half of the dough atop. Roll the dough into a large rectangular shape. Place the parchment paper with the dough onto a baking sheet.

Spread the grapes over the dough evenly, leaving about an inch around the edges. Sprinkle sugar and chopped rosemary over the grapes. Drizzle with olive oil. Cut another piece of parchment paper and roll out the dough on top of it. Flip the dough over the baking sheet directly over the grapes.

Pinch the edges of the top and bottoms together to seal the grapes inside. Spread the remaining grapes over the top of the dough, and sprinkle with sugar and rosemary. Drizzle generously with olive oil. Allow the focaccia to rest for a short second rise while the oven heats to 425℉.

Bake until golden brown, about 30-35 minutes. 

Baking Notes

• You can use any sort of sweet grape for this. Seedless are best and sweeter varieties will taste better.
• This recipe requires a long rise time and an active sourdough starter. You can make this focaccia with a store bought yeast mixture if you don’t have a starter.
• When mixing the dough, it is best to use warm water or room temperature water over cold. 
• The dough rise time will vary. Check the dough not the clock to see where it’s at on the first rise. The dough is ready when it has doubled in size.

How To Store

I like to store my grape focaccia wrapped loosely in parchment paper on my countertop. This helps it keep its crunchy texture. You can opt to wrap it in plastic wrap or place it on a cake plate with a lid. Please keep in mind that it will mold quickly with the fruit. It should be eaten in a day or two of baking. 

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If you try this recipe and love it, I would appreciate you coming back to give it 5 stars!