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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
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Scarpaccia
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
- 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.
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I made this dairy and gluten free and it was delicious but will leave out the sugar next time was too sweet
Thanks Jan
This is absolute perfection. It is not a difficult recipe, it is not expensive to make, it is vegetarian and it is beyond delicious. It is an all level winner!!
Thank you Shannon!
Absolutely delicious!!!
Thanks Teri!
I’ve just tried to make this and it is in the oven so unsure on results just yet but I did run into some trouble with the measurements being different between the US and Metric versions.
Specifically with the flour measurements, in the US version it states 1 1/2 cups of both all-purpose flour and corn meal, however in the metric version it states 188g of all-purpose and only 47g corn meal.
It seemed like too much of a discrepancy so I checked and 47g of corn meal was wayyy under the 1 1/2c measurement that it was meant to be.
I ended up just guessing the flour ratios to make a batter that seemed right but was hoping for some clarification. Is there an error or am I just some how reading it wrong?
Hi Caitlin – we are a US based website and cook using the US measurements so can vouch for the accuracy of the original measurements. Our recipe card plug-in provides a conversion tool that calculates the metric amounts but I suspect there is an error in how it captured the amount needed. I’m sorry – I will let the plug-in developer know that they may need further enhancements to insure accuracy of the automatic conversion to metric. Hope you were able to salvage the recipe.
Made this recipe last Thanksgiving and it was a hit with my entire family. I’m making it again this Thanksgiving. It healthy with a boatload of flavor
Thanks Diane – so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Can you post a video to this recipe? Instructions are pretty confusing.
Sorry Corey – we actually aren’t making videos at the moment but if we start to again, we will include this recipe on the list.
I see you’ve scratched out the flour in the recipe, have you decided to omit it altogether?
We did not – you must have clicked on the box in the recipe ingredients list.
Fabulous! I made a double batch as we are overwhelmed with giant zucchini right now! I cut it into squares and layer it with parchment paper between.
It freezes well, but also warms up beautifully on the griddle.
Thank you!
You’re welcome Laurie! Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Going to make this and was wondering if you’ve ever used parchment paper to line the sheet pan?
We haven’t Melanie, but you can certainly do that if you are worried about sticking.
Oh my goodness!
Fabulous!
Thank you Diane!