Scaccia on the Grill
Just your typical May weather in Toronto, one day it’s 16°C and the next it’s 30° C! Much too hot to even think about cooking anything in the oven.
I had some leftover pizza dough in the freezer so I decided to use that to make a Scaccia instead of my usual pizza.
For the filling for my Scaccia, I kept it simple, a basic tomato sauce, some fresh basil, a scattering of black olives and sundried tomatoes and of course some cheese! It’s a bit like a classic Scaccia Ragusana, and a bit like a rolled up pizza Margherita, and really you can’t go wrong with that combination of ingredients and flavours!
Grilling the Scaccia
I make pizza on the grill all the time, but I’ve never made a Scaccia on the grill before so wasn’t entirely sure how it would turn out.
It worked amazingly well! 30-40 minutes on the grill and a beautiful, rustic loaf emerges, crisp and nicely browned with a few char spots on the outside, and tender flavourful layers with lots of gooey cheesiness on the inside.
Scaccia is meant to be rustic looking, so don’t worry if you don’t start with a perfect rectangle, or the dough tears. Any imperfections simply add to its beauty!
If you don’t have a grill, you can bake your Scaccia in the oven. Allow for slightly longer cooking time in the oven, closer to 50- 60 minutes.
What is Scaccia?
Scaccia is a Sicilian style stuffed flat bread. It’s a bit like a calzone, and a bit like lasagna, in fact it’s sometimes referred to as lasagna bread or pizza bread. It’s made with a very thin rectangular layer of dough, folded on itself three or four times to make layers of flavour. When sliced, it does look a bit like lasagna.
The Filling
The options for fillings for Scaccia are pretty much endless! Anything that works for a pizza or calzone, will work in your scaccia so feel free to experiment.
You can’t go wrong with the a classic Scaccia Ragusana, made with a simple tomato sauce, basil and a spicy caciocavallo cheese. Change the type of cheese, add some prosciutto, pepperoni or your favorite sausage to make your own version. Ricotta and Leeks, mushrooms, spinach and a smoked cheese, or pan- fried eggplant with ricotta and parmesan are just a few other delicious filling ideas.
The Dough
Some recipes for Scaccia use a pizza-style dough, while others leave out the yeast for a more pasta-like dough. I’ve tried both and personally prefer the pizza style dough.
Try my recipe for Homemade Pizza Dough, use your own favorite dough recipe, or a store-bought pizza dough. My recipe yields enough dough for two Scaccia, as will most store-bought pizza doughs.
Ingredients
- 1 pizza dough (for one medium size pizza)
- 2 cups tomato passata
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- ¼ cup sundried tomatoes, sliced thinly
- fresh basil leaves
- 200 grams mozzarella, thinly sliced or shredded
- 16-20 black olives, pitted and halved
Instructions
Make the Tomato Sauce
- Heat the olive oil and 1 tbsp of oil from the sundried tomatoes in a saucepan over med-high heat. Add the diced onion and minced garlic and cook until the onion is soft and translucent, but not browned, about 3-5 minutes. Add the tomato passata, reduce the heat and let simmer for 10-15 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.You will need about 1 – 1½ cups sauce for the Scaccia. Serve extra sauce alongside for dipping. alongside for dipping.
Assemble the Scaccia
- Pre- Heat grill to 500° and place the pizza stone on the grill (if using)Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface (or onto a sheet of parchment paper, for ease of transfer). Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to a thin rectangle, about 1/16 inch thick.Spread the dough with a thin layer of sauce. Scatter 1/2 of the olives over top along with 1/2 of the sun-dried tomatoes. Next, lay 1/2 the cheese and scatter 1/2 the basil on top.
- Lengthwise, fold the right and left sides of the dough in so they meet in the middle. Spread with another thin layer of sauce, and about 2/3 of the remaining olives, sun-dried tomatoes, cheese, and basil.
- Next, widthwise, fold the top and bottom ends in so they meet in the middle.
- Spread with another thin layer of sauce, and the remaining olives, cheese, and basil.
- Fold the top half over the bottom half, closing like a book. Brush the top with olive oil. Using a sharp knife, make a few cuts across the top.
- Transfer the Scaccia to the hot pizza stone on the grill or to a parchment lined baking sheet, and place on the grill . Cook for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 400F and continue cooking until the top is crispy and well-browned, about 20 -30 minutes. Rotate the pizza stone or baking sheet 1/2 way through cooking to ensure even browning. If the bottom is cooking to quickly, turn off the burner on one side of the grill and finish cooking over indirect heat.
- Place the Scaccia on a cutting board or platter and cut into slices. Serve with extra tomato sauce on the side for dipping.The Scaccia will yield about 8 slices.