![\"grapes\"](\"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/grapes.jpg\" "\\"grapes\\"")
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Blame the rain, the 45 mph winds and the power outage that spread across two days.\u00a0 I’m sure I’ve mentioned before that I live among the redwoods in the Santa Cruz Mountains.\u00a0 When the weather is great, it’s a glorious place to be.\u00a0 When it’s bad, it’s miserable.\u00a0 This week, the electricity went out just as I was preparing to publish this post on my desktop Mac.\u00a0 So I’m later than usual.\u00a0 My apologies.<\/em><\/p>\n Grapes called to me at the farmers market for weeks as I contemplated schiacciata all’uva<\/em>, a Tuscan variation on foccacia, liberally studded with dark, juicy grapes and dusted with a blanket of sugar.<\/p>\n Yet every week crates of the Central Valley grape growers who come to Santa Cruz markets were piled high with the same ordinary Red Flame and Thompson seedless table grapes.\u00a0 Once in a while there would be some dark purple grapes the sellers just called black seedless.\u00a0 All were crisp and refreshing eaten out of hand but not as deep in flavor as I had hoped.\u00a0 Still, when nothing more interesting showed up, I decided to go with what was at hand.\u00a0 I started with the darkest, fattest grapes I could find, the black seedless.<\/p>\n What a surprise!\u00a0 They were wonderful baked in the schiacciata<\/em>.\u00a0 The heat of the oven concentrated the flavors and the juice turned thick and syrupy.\u00a0 Who would believe they were the merely pleasant table grapes I had sampled at the market.\u00a0\u00a0 Later, I found that Red Flames also were transformed by their time in a hot oven.<\/p>\n This dish is so simple it’s brilliant \u2013 pizza dough, grapes, sugar and perhaps some lemon zest for extra flavor. \u00a0 You don’t even have to make your own dough.\u00a0 Although I prefer the yeasty flavor of homemade dough, Trader Joe’s refrigerated pizza dough worked just fine.\u00a0 If you don’t have a favorite pizza dough recipe, try this one<\/a> I posted last year. There’s plenty of time left to bake your own.\u00a0 Growers say they’re likely to have several varieties of grapes into December and as late as January.<\/p>\n The moral here, of course, is not to be too quick to dismiss the ordinary.\u00a0 Those old familiar varieties may prove truly extraordinary when picked ripe and showcased in the right recipe.<\/p>\n 1\u00bd-2 pounds pizza dough (see Note<\/strong>) Make pizza dough and let rise according to recipe or use refrigerated dough that has returned to room temperature.\u00a0 Oil a rimmed 12-inch by 17-inch baking sheet.\u00a0\u00a0 Place dough in center of the baking sheet and gently press and stretch to the rims. You may want to oil your hands to do this if the dough is too sticky.\u00a0 If the dough resists shaping and spring backs when stretched, let rest uncovered for 5 minutes or so and try again.<\/p>\n Brush dough evenly with a light film of olive oil.\u00a0 Scatter grapes over the surface and lightly press into dough.\u00a0 Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until dough puffs up around grapes.\u00a0 This could take as little as 45 minutes or as long as 1\u00bd hours depending on the temperature of your kitchen.<\/p>\n About 20 minutes before baking, preheat oven to 350 degrees.<\/p>\n Just before baking, remove plastic wrap and sprinkle with lemon zest, if using.\u00a0 Evenly dust the surface with sugar and bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.<\/p>\n Cool bread briefly on a wire rack, then loosen it from the pan with a metal spatula and transfer it to a cutting board. Cut into squares and serve warm or eat within a day.\u00a0 The bread gets stale quickly but it does freeze well.<\/p>\n Note<\/strong>: If you’re making your own dough, you will want to use a recipe that calls for about 3 cups of flour.\u00a0 You can find an easy recipe here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2013Aleta Watson<\/em><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Blame the rain, the 45 mph winds and the power outage that spread across two days.\u00a0 I’m sure I’ve mentioned before that I live among the redwoods in the Santa Cruz Mountains.\u00a0 When the weather is great, it’s a glorious place to be.\u00a0 When it’s bad, it’s miserable.\u00a0 This week, the electricity went out just … Continue reading A grape surprise<\/span> ![\"schiacciata\"](\"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/schiacciata.jpg\" "\\"schiacciata\\"")
I’d been holding off on baking, though, hoping that wine grapes\u2013perhaps some spicy zinfandels\u2013would show up in one of the stalls.\u00a0 Italians, after all, make this sweet bread with the same Sangiovese grapes they press for Chianti.<\/p>\n![\"schiacciata2\"](\"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/schiacciata2.jpg\" "\\"schiacciata2\\"")
<\/p>\nSCHIACCIATA ALL’UVA<\/strong>
\nServes 8<\/em><\/p>\n
\n1\u00bd cups red or black seedless grapes, washed and dried
\nZest of 1 lemon (optional)
\nOlive oil
\n5 tablespoons sugar, or more to taste<\/p>\n