Scarpaccia is an Italian zucchini tart full of fantastic flavor!
Every Italian family (and every non-Italian family for that matter!) needs a good Scarpaccia in their recipe collection. Scarpaccia is a delicious zucchini tart or flatbread with such fantastic flavors – we would eat this dish every week if we could!
Scarpaccia is a dish that originates from the Tuscan coastal areas around Viagreggio, an Italian city that Jack and I visited on our honeymoon. The name is loosely translated as meaning ‘bad shoe’ and some sources say this dish got its name because it bakes up as thin as the sole of a bad shoe! Other sources describe a ‘bad shoe’ as one that has been worn by many family members, and scarpaccia is a tart that you can put anything into – like a bad shoe.
Whichever definition you prefer, scarpaccia was traditionally baked during the zucchini season by retired sailors using the vegetables from their garden. Scarpaccia traditionally includes zucchini flowers – however most people don’t have access to that ingredient year-round, so we made ours with thinly sliced zucchini. (If you are able to find zucchini flowers, by all means add it – and just cut back a bit on the amount of sliced zucchini called for in this recipe.)
Scarpaccia can be made sweet or savory, thin or thick, crisp or soft – as long as the common ingredients of zucchini and flour are used. Our version – inspired by both Jack’s own family recipe, as well as a recipe we brought home from our honeymoon – has a touch of sweetness along with wonderful savory flavors from sundried tomatoes, basil and thyme and Parmesan cheese. It also has a bit of texture thanks to adding corn meal as well as the addition of pine nuts to the batter.
Served warm out of the oven with a side salad, this scarpaccia makes a truly wonderful lunch or dinner. Enjoy!
This post was originally published in May 2014.
You may enjoy these other Zucchini recipes:
- Best Zucchini Bread Ever
- Baked Zucchini Fries
- 30+ Recipes for Your Garden Zucchini
- Zucchini and Eggs (Cocozelle)
- Italian Zucchini Stew
Scarpaccia
Scarpaccia is an Italian zucchini tart full of fantastic flavor!
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
- Category: side dish, entree
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: Itailian
Ingredients
- 2 pounds zucchini
- 1 red onion (about 1/2 pound)
- 2 cups tightly packed baby spinach
- 1 8.5–ounce jar sundried tomatoes in oil
- 1 cup pine nuts
- 1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, plus one teaspoon for garnish
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups corn meal
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup sugar (leave this out if you prefer!)
- Approximately 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (or enough to add to the oil drained from jar of sundried tomatoes to equal 1 full cup), plus more for drizzling
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and prepare a 12X16 inch sheet pan by spraying with non-stick cooking spray.
- Slice zucchini into very thin slices and place in a large bowl. Slice red onion into very thin slices and add to zucchini. Also add baby spinach to bowl.
- Drain oil from sundried tomatoes into a cup measure and set oil aside. Cut tomatoes into quarters and add to bowl with other vegetables.
- Add pine nuts, basil, 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, salt and pepper to the large bowl with vegetables and toss all ingredients together.
- In a separate smaller bowl mix flour, corn meal and baking powder. Add this to the large bowl and toss again to mix the ingredients.
- In that same smaller bowl, beat eggs and sugar and add to the large bowl, mixing into ingredients.
- Take the reserved cup measure with the oil drained from the tomatoes and add enough olive oil to fill one cup. Add to the large bowl, mixing to combine.
- Finally, slowly mix in the water to the large bowl, only using enough to make a thin batter. You may not need all of the water.
- Pour batter into the prepared sheet pan, drizzle the top with olive oil and bake for 55-60 minutes.
- When it comes out of the oven, sprinkle the Parmesan cheese all over the top and drizzle with a little more olive oil and sprinkle the remaining thyme over the top.
- Cut into squares and serve.
Hello! Would you say this is good at room temp and made the night before? I want to make it for a function and there is no opportunity to bake it there.
Hi Stephanie – This would be a great recipe to make ahead and it is delicious served at room temperature. Enjoy!
I’m not a fan of sweetness in savoury dishes – can I leave the sugar out?
Yes June – you can leave the sugar out.
This dish was part of the appetizer course in a big, special dinner over the weekend and it was terrific! Thank you for posting!
Thank you for writing to us Keri! So glad you enjoyed the recipe – and great idea to serve it as an appetizer!
Is it OK to leave the pine nuts out or can you recommend a substitution?
Yes – no problem leaving them out.
Since pine nuts are unaffordable, how about subbing thinly sliced almonds instead of leaving them out?
Sure Aliya – you can do that. Thanks for the suggestion.
Well, the troops have just finished this off! I made a half recipe as there’s not many of us. I was a bit worried about the whole ‘batter’ thing, as it definitely wasn’t a batter. No need to worry though! It came out beautifully & has been requested to go on the regular menu list!
Thank you 🙂
Glad you all enjoyed the recipe Heather!
This looks amazing! I just made a 1/2 batch and I can’t wait to bake it! Is it ok that I made everything the day before? Will it still be the same when I bake it tomorrow?
Hi Kristin! It might get a little soggy… You could think about baking it tonight and then reheating it tomorrow? Hope that helps!
Thank you so much! I’m making it for the second time right now because it was so good when I made it last week. A total crowd pleaser, and I was told that it blew someone’s mind. This recipe is a keeper!
WOW – Thanks Susanna! So glad you all enjoyed the recipe! (It’s one of my favorites!)
Martha,
Am I reading the recipe correctly? The only liquid is 1/4 cup of water to 3 cups of flour/corn meal ? My batter was not liquid it was more like cookie dough. The whole thing came out really dry. What went wrong? Maybe need more zucchini, though I used 1 large one. Thanks for your input.
Hi Joanne – We’re sure the recipe is correct as written. Did you perhaps leave out the oil in the recipe?
My recipe was also very dry, I think the wet and dry ingredients should be mixed first to make sure it is a batter before adding to the raw vegetable mix. I will try it again.
Thanks for the suggestion Sharon – either way you decide to mix it, it shouldn’t be dry so be careful not to over bake and watch for correct measurements.
Hi, made this yesterday – feedback was fantastic, it’s our new favourite! Thank you so much for the recipe.,
I would like to ask, will this freeze ok or not please?
Thanks again
Sally
Hi Sally – We’re glad you liked the recipe! We haven’t tried freezing it ourselves – but I do think it would be OK to freeze! (Please let us know how it comes out if you try to freeze it…)
Ok, I just put it in the oven, fingers crossed it turns out….
I hope so too Sharon! (It’s one of our favorite recipes!)
It’s amazing..the layer of flavors is crazy! I would tent the edges after a bit, mine got quite brown! It is a keeper! Than you, I love your blog!
Thanks Sharon and great idea! We’re glad you enjoyed it!