To tell the truth, it’s not that I had this great desire to start kneading or even separating the stalk from grapes .
But these clusters hanging in an expectation that seemed disconsolate to me, ignited my sensitivity.
A small abandoned vineyard, a couple of rows.
Some dry clusters, some still turgid. I taste it. It is as sweet as honey. What a pity. They haven’t harvested it. Who knows, maybe it was impossible to come here with the tractor or maybe the work is not worth the money.
The sad grape was calling me.
Pellegrino always has a small hardware store in his car. He takes the shears (the shears could not be missing by him!). It cuts maybe 3 kilos. I carry the bag and follow him along the row.
I will make a Schiaccia, but I already know that this grape is too much.
I can make a juice out of it, hand blender and strainer… yeah, and then I freeze it
I will use it to cook chicken or duck.
I do all these thoughts, small projects for the table and it seems to me that the grapes are happier.
EPILOGUE OF THE SAD GRAPES
LA SCHIACCIA CON L’UVA – THE SCHIACCIA WITH GRAPES
Ingredients:
- 1 kg of purple grapes (today the seedless one is on the market: recently on TV – Linea Verde – they declared that it is not a genetically modified grape, but a variety. Do we believe it? In fact I can’t understand how a variety of any vegetable can reproduce without seeds. But I’m not a biologist nor an agronomist. I just write “purple grapes” and let you decide)
- 350 gr flour type 00
- 350 gr flour type farina 0 (I prefer to mix the flours. With 00 we have more sugars, which are the food of ferments. With the 0 we have a little more protein … which will become ferments. I also like to mix type 2 flours, with the germ and original grain flours. In Tuscany we have Verna, Farro but also less known flours such as Rondine and Funo. Here, too, I leave it to you to decide which flours and how to mix them. I also leave you the quantity. Because, those of you who make bread know very well, the amount of yeast is inversely proportional to the room temperature in which the dough rises and the duration of the leavening: less yeast means more time or a higher leavening temperature )
- 60 gr sugar
- 350-400 ml lukewarm water
- 25 gr brewer yeast
- salt
- extra virgin olive oil
In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in a little warm water (not exceeding 42 ° C) and half a teaspoon of sugar. After about ten minutes it will begin to froth.
Make an initial dough, mixing a few tablespoons of flour and let it rise covered. It will take 12-15 minutes.
In the meantime, prepare a well with the mixed flours, put 3 tablespoons of oil and 50 grams of sugar in the center.
When the initial dough has swollen, place it in the center of the fountain, together with the warm water. At the beginning you can use a fork, adding the flour gradually. Knead vigorously.
If you have a mixer or a good robot – I use a mixer, as you can see from the photos – you can put all the ingredients together and adjust the consistency as you go, possibly adding water or flour.
The dough should be compact, but soft. When you judge it ready, add 2 grams of salt and knead for a couple of minutes.
I always do these last two minutes by hand. I add the salt at this stage.
Divide it in two (I make a cross on it, to oxygenate it inside too) and let it rise (in the photo above they are already almost at the end of the leavening)
Rinse the grapes and remove the seeds, if any.
Grease a pan – size of your home oven – with olive oil. Roll out a part of the dough on the bottom, letting it overflow from the pan. Make him “recover” from the stress before continuing to work: wait five minutes for it to “swell”.
Spread half the grapes on it.
Roll out the second part of the dough and lay it on the first.
Fold the edges of the first layer and seal them. Wait five minutes.
Distribute the remaining grapes and the remaining sugar. Sprinkle a little olive oil.
Bake at 180 ° for 30 minutes (the bread generally bakes at higher temperatures. But here it is a “double layer” and with grapes, moreover, which will release much of its water in the dough. To avoid having ” burnt outside “and” wet inside “I prefer to cook the Schiacciata with Grapes at a lower temperature). Raise the temperature to 200 ° and cook again, to caramelize the crust. The final result (two layers of pasta and two of grapes) can be seen in the photo above. Soft and juicy, sweet enough, slightly crunchy on the surface, with the taste of the good for having made a drop of contribution to non-food waste.