Italian scarpaccia is a super tasty savoury tart. Traditionally, it’s made with zucchini only, but this is a version with potatoes as well. It’s a vegetable tart made with flour, corn meal and water. It’s super simple but very delicious!
What is scarpaccia?
The name might sound weird, “scarpaccia” actually means old or ugly shoe, according to some this is because once cooked it’s thin as a shoe sole.
I’m not sure that’s true, because it looks great and so colourful! Regardless, it’s super simple to make and delicious!
Scarpaccia Ingredients
- Plain flour
- Corn meal (ground corn, the coarse type, not like flour)
- Onion
- Zucchini
- Potatoes
- Water
- Dry herbs: rosemary and thyme
- Salt and pepper
- Extra virgin olive oil
Scarpaccia Recipe Instructions
Start by grating the potatoes and zucchinis (keep some for the slices for topping).
Place them in a cheesecloth or clean kitchen towel and add a pinch of salt and let sit for 10 minutes, then squeeze them to remove the excess water.
Try and get as much water out as possible, this will ensure it stay crispy and that the vegetables don’t release too much water while cooking.
Preheat the oven to 200C/392 F (fan)
Add the grated vegetables to a bowl, add sliced onion, season with dry herbs, salt and pepper and add plain flour and corn meal.
Mix to combine, it will remain dry, then slowly add water, the mixture should be thick.
If it’s too watery (it also depends in how much water is left in the vegetables), add more flour.
If it’s too liquid, it will remain soggy. The ideal texture is like a wet bread dough.
Place baking paper on a baking tray, add some olive oil and spread it all over the paper.
Spread the mixture very thinly on it, then cover with courgette and potato slices, drizzle with olive oil, corn meal, salt.
Bake until crispy, for 40-50 minutes. To get the crunchy bottom, move the tray at the bottom of the oven for the last 10 minutes.
If the top is getting burnt while the center is still not ready, cover it with some baking paper.
Substitutions
Vegetables – you can use other vegetables, like carrots, peppers, whatever you have in the fridge.
If they are watery like courgettes, make sure to squeeze out the water. Check out my Bell pepper and onion scarpaccia here.
Corn meal – If you don’t have corn meal, you can use corn grits, semolina flour, or breadcrumbs
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?
I love to see recreations and share them!
Italian Scarpaccia – Zucchini And Potato Version
Ingredients
- 155 g plain flour
- 40 g corn meal coarse, not like flour
- 1 small onion
- 450 g zucchini
- 450 g potato
- 115 g water
- Dry rosemary and thyme to taste
- Salt and pepper
- Olive oil to taste
Instructions
- Start by grating the potatoes and zucchinis (keep about 100g each for the slices for topping). Place them in a cheesecloth or clean kitchen towel and add a pinch of salt and let sit for 10 minutes, then squeeze them to remove the excess water. Try and get as much water out as possible, this will ensure it stay crispy and that the vegetables don't release too much water while cooking. If you have some time, sprinkle the vegetables with salt, place them in a colander and cover them with a small plate and something heavy on top. The salt and weight will helps get more water out.
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400 F (fan)Add the grated vegetables to a bowl, add sliced onion, season with dry herbs, salt and pepper and add plain flour and corn meal. Mix to combine, it will remain dry, then slowly add water, the mixture should be thick. If it's too watery (it also depends in how much water is left in the vegetables), add more flour. If it's too liquid, it will remain soggy. The ideal texture is like a wet bread dough.
- Place baking paper on a baking tray, add some olive oil and spread it all over the paper.
- Spread the mixture very thinly on it, then cover with courgette and potato slices, drizzle with olive oil, corn meal, salt.
- Bake until crispy, for 40-50 minutes. To get the crunchy bottom, move the tray at the bottom of the oven for the last 10 minutes. If the top is getting burnt while the center is still not ready, cover it with some baking paper. Let it cool down a bit before slicing.
this was very tasty, thank you. I feel it would also work as a base for other toppings
It was very tasty I added some pesto and a little cheddar on top 😉 delicious 🤤 thanks!!
Savoury & Crispy Yumminess,
The finished product was crispy, crunchy & as I used GF plain flour was great as Df, Gf, egg free, nut free, pizza like side or snack. The prep took a lot longer than ten minutes. Next time I would do the veggie grating & draining much earlier & use a muslim cloth as a drainer. The topping I used was made with a medium mandolin size slicer. I used Olsens Rosemary salt & Olsens smoked salt & my dried thyme & a sprinkle of chilli flakes & ground pepper as seasoning. To spread the base on an aluminium lipped commercial tray I divided the dough in half & patted it out by hand. I then covered the top with baking paper & smoothed it out evenly.
Delicious–thank you!
I’m glad you liked it! thanks for sharing
I am making this tonight, looks delicious and light! What is the reason to put it on the bottom shelf for the last ten mins.. does this help with crisping the bottom? Do we need to remove it from the tray or leave it in? Thanks!!
Yes to crisp the bottom! Leave it in the tray, just move the tray to the bottom of the oven
So delicious! What a fabulous way to enjoy zucchini season and fresh dug potatoes! Fresh rosemary worked well! Love it!!!
[…] Zucchini courgette scarpaccia […]
I am in an RV with no oven, is it possible to make this on a flat griddle?
Just made this today and it’s delicious!! Definitely adding to the rotation. Thank you for such an easy vegan dish