As I had an Italian dinner planned, it was a perfect time to try a Tuscan schiacciata. I kept it simple with olive oil and rosemary and adapted a recipe from here.
Thin, crisp crust + the most gloriously soft, open crumb = bread heaven!
Makes 1 large schiacciata
Ingredients
240g (1 cup) mature 100% hydration sourdough starter
590g (4 3/4 cups) all-purpose (plain) flour
300g (1 1/4 cups) water
200g (1 cup) mashed potato
10g (1 1/2 tsp) salt
10g (1 1/2 tsp) honey
30g (2 1/4 tbsp) olive oil, plus additional for drizzling
1 tbsp fresh rosemary
coarse sea salt
Directions
Mix starter, flour and water together in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 30 minutes.
Mix together mashed potato, salt, honey and oil, add to dough and knead until combined.
Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead gently for about 10 minutes – it will be very soft and sticky. Cover and rest at least 2 hours, stretching and folding every 30 minutes. After the last fold, transfer to a clean, lightly oiled bowl, cover tightly and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, remove the bowl from the fridge and bring to room temperature – at least 2 hours.
Lightly oil a large rimmed baking tray (mine was 29 x 39cm or 11 1/2 x 15 1/2″), or line with parchment. Press dough out into the tray so it is about an inch thick. Cover loosely with lightly oiled plastic wrap and rest for about three hours.
Preheat oven to 250°C.
Use your fingertips to press indentations all over the top, drizzle generously with olive oil and sprinkle with rosemary and sea salt.
Reduce oven to 230°C. Bake in centre of oven for about 25 minutes, until it is a deep, golden colour.
Transfer from tray to wire rack to cool.
pizzarossa 
Looks beautiful!
Thanks, Rachel! (Nearly spelled your name like mine!) 🙂
Bread Heaven indeed! Perfection.
Thanks, Dee! 🙂
Oh this does look like bread heaven!! I love it!!!! 🙂
Thanks, Jenni! 🙂
Hahaha! I love that you were able to “combine” the two challenges – I love when it works out like that 😉 Your focaccia looks outstandingly delicious. Great job!!
Shelley, I suspect you had a hand in that coincidence! LOL! Thanks for a brilliant challenge 🙂
Looks great!
Thanks, Kelster! 🙂
Looks delicious! Lynn @ Turnips 2 Tangerines
Thanks, Lynn! 🙂
It looks really good! 🙂
Thanks, tastyrules! 🙂
Oh schiacciata!
I have eaten so much when I lived in Florence!!!
Thank you for taking back some sweet memories 🙂
Lovely recipe
Thanks, Lou! Glad to bring back some nice memories for you 🙂
This looks lovely and springy! Fresh rosemary, yum, always a good addition.
Thanks, Jane!
The crumb of your loaf is perfection Rachael! Love the addition of mashed potato – I know what it does for cinnamon buns so I bet it does great things for focaccia/schiacciata!
I’m thinking about more things to use it in, Korena! I had no idea what an effect it has on the dough until now!
This looks wonderful!
Thanks, Jessica! 🙂
The texture looks so amazing!
Thanks, Rebecca! 🙂
I love potato and rosemary. I need to try your Tuscan version. Wonderful!
Thanks Cathy! I hope you love it as much as we did! The potato does amazing things for the texture – the crumb is so soft. I’ve taken to making extra mashed potatoes especially for focaccia now.
Thanks for this great recipe! I have been searching for a good schiacciata recipe for a long time. I plan on making this tomorrow. I have a question, can I use a stand mixer, or do you recommend all hand kneading? Thank you!
Hi Maria,
I always use a stand mixer these days! 🙂