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Published: Mar 28, 2016 · by Jennifer

Scaccia Lasagna Loaf

Name: Scaccia (Lasagna Loaf)
Prep time: 180 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 240 min
Yield: 4 people
Ingredients: 1/4 tsp sugar; 1/4 tsp active dry yeast; 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp. lukewarm water; 2 cups semolina flour; 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil; 1/2 tsp kosher salt; all-purpose flour (for dusting counter); 1 Tbsp olive oil; 2 cloves garlic (finely chopped); 2 cups whole peeled canned tomatoes, with juice; 1 tsp sugar; 1/2 cup basil leaves (roughly chopped, loosely packed); Freshly ground black pepper; Salt (to taste)

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This Scaccia Lasagna Loaf is not very pretty, but it sure is delicious. In fact, it might be said, that the uglier the Scaccia, the better it is :) This Scaccia recipe uses all semolina flour, for wonderful flavour and texture.

This is not the first time I’ve made Scaccia. I made a Scaccia Ragusana just about 5 years ago. I’ve made it a several times since then, but it was a feature and a new recipe in the most recent Saveur magazine that renewed my interest.

Unlike my earlier version, this one is made with all semolina flour. It’s also baked up in a loaf pan, as opposed to the free-form earlier version. Both were delicious and well worth trying.

If I were to describe Scaccia to someone who hasn’t tried it, I’d say it’s like a cross between pasta and pizza. The outside, as you can easily see, bakes up crisp and charred, like a pizza, while the inside has soft pasta-like layers with tomato sauce and cheese.

Making Scaccia is a wonderful adventure and a great weekend undertaking. The process isn’t lengthy or difficult, just perhaps more than many might like on a weeknight. Scaccia is also endlessly customizable. Layer in some Italian cured meats or some browned sausage, for a meatier version. As for cheese, the original recipe from Saveur uses caciocavallo cheese, which would be great. Unfortunately, it’s not available in my local area, so I substituted Provolone. I’ve used Buffalo Mozzarella in the past, as well.

Cook’s Notes for Scaccia Lasagna Loaf

Look for semolina flour in Italian grocers. It’s usually sold in small bags and it’s more powdery than the fine-cornmeal type of semolina. If you can’t find it, you can use regular semolina or a mixture of semolina and all purpose flour instead. I would hold back a bit of the flour and add as needed, to get a smooth dough, to avoid an overly dry dough.

As noted above, Scaccia are endlessly customizable. Much like pizza or lasagna, you can use a variety of cheese, meat or vegetables/greens, if you like. One thing to bear in mind though is the folding process that you are going to have to pull off. Obviously, you won’t really want anything too chunky or heavy, or that might becomes quite cumbersome.

As noted in the recipe, be sure your tomato sauce is very well seasoned with salt and pepper, so your finished dish is, as the dough has very little salt and makes up a large part of the dish.

I think most of the folding process is fairly easy to follow, except the very last fold. To clarify, just before the last fold, you will have an oblong rectangle that is 4 or 5 inches wide and 18-inches-ish long. So in order for it to fit in your pan, you need to take the far end and fold it back and over so it meets the closest edge to you, making a 4-inch wide x 9-inch long piece.

Finally, once you get to that point, the process of transferring to your prepared loaf pan is a little tricky as you have a lot of sauce in there. I find two spatulas underneath at either end and a really quick more works best. Don’t worry if it looks like a hot mess in the pan. Remember, the uglier it is, the better it is :)