Pizza Scima, Abruzzese Flatbread

Pizza Scima is a traditional unleavened flatbread from Abruzzo. It's made with flour, white wine and olive oil and topped with lots of flakey sea salt. It's easy to make and addictively good. solid served with cured meats, cheeses, olives and drinks!

Pizza Scima (pronounced sheema) is not like any other pizza you've seen before. It's an unleavened bread from Abruzzo and is a cross between a focaccia and a cracker and has a crumbly pastry-like texture inside.

Since it's unleaved it's so easy

It's the solid bread for serving as a snack or as an addition to an antipasti board served with cured meats, cheese and olives.

And when we say it's addictive, we mean it! We cannot stop eating this bread. Crispy on the outside, crumbly and soft on the inside drizzled with lots of olive oil and flakey sea salt…it's heaven especially while warm.

See the recipe below including notes on ingredients, step by step photos and tips. For the full printable recipe scroll to the bottom or click the recipe link below.

Ingredient notes and substitutions

• Flour – as with most of our recipes we use Italian 00 flour as that's what's traditionally used but all-purpose flour will also work.
• White wine – we like to use Trebbiano D'Abruzzo since this is an Abrussese recipe but most Italian white wines will work as well.
• Salt – fine salt is best for incorporating into the dough but we love to sprinkle sea salt flakes (we use Maldon) on top. Use sea salt flakes if you have them.
• Olive oil – extra virgin olive oil is used to make the dough and drizzle on top when serving…good!

Step by step photos and instructions

1. Dry ingredients – mix the flour and salt together in a large mixing bowl (photo 1).
2. Make a well – make a well in the middle of the flour and pour in the olive oil and white wine (photos 2 and 3).

1. Mix – use a wooden spatula or spoon to mix everything together until a rough dough forms (photo 4).
2. Knead – Tip the dough on to a clean work surface and knead briefly into a smooth ball (photos 5-7).

1. Roll out – using a rolling pin roll the dough out to roughly a 9 inch circle and 2/3 inch thick (photos 8 and 9).
2. Score – Place the dough on a tray greased with olive oil (we used a pizza tray but a rectangular tray will also work) and score the dough all over the top in a criss-cross or diamond shape about 1 inch wide (photo 10).

1. Brush and bake – brush the Pizza Scima with olive oil and top with a little flakey sea salt. Bake in the oven on the middle shelf for 50 minutes (photo 11).
2. Serve – remove from the oven and drizzle more olive oil on top. let it cool for about 10 minutes before serving (photo 12).

Recipe Tips

• Don't over-knead – knead the dough enough so it comes to a smooth ball. Over-kneading will cause the bread to become too tight and tough because there's no yeast in it.
• No extra flour needed – because there is a lot of olive oil in the dough you shouldn't need to use any flour for kneading. If the dough is difficult to handle you can roll it in between baking parchment and bake it on a tray on baking parchment. The dough shouldn't be sticky.
• Scoring the dough – this is done in a criss-cross or diamond shape all across the top of the dough and helps with breaking it into pieces when serving. Use a sharp knife to do this and don't cut down too deep.
• let it cool – Pizza Scima is best served warm so let it cool for about 10 minutes before serving otherwise it'll be too hot.
• Serving – break the Pizza Scima into pieces and serve it as you would bread or crackers with cured meats, cheese and dips. It's also addictively good on its own!

What can we use instead of wine?

If you don't consume alcohol you can use water instead.

What does Pizza Scima mean?

Scima comes from the Italian word 'scema' which means silly or stupid referring to how simple the recipe is.

More good Italian snacks to try

Antipasti

Italian Potato Fritters (Tortei di Patate)

Bread & Savory Bakes

Brustengo (Umbrian Flatbread)

Breakfast

Pane Frattau (Sardinian Bread with Tomato and Poached Egg)

Sides

Ricotta Chicken Croquettes

Ingredients

Makes 8 servings

• 450 g Italian 00 flour ((1 lb or 3 and ⅓ cups))
• 6 tablespoons (90g) extra virgin olive oil (plus extra for serving)
• 200 ml white wine ((6.7 fl oz or ½ cup plus ⅓ cup))
• 1/2 tablespoon (7g) fine salt
• Sea salt for serving

Equipment

• Rolling pin
• Round pizza tray or large rectangular tray

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C (400F). Grease your tray with olive oil and set aside.

2. Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the olive oil and white wine.

3. Mix with a spoon until a rough dough forms. Tip the dough onto a clean work surface and knead it for a minute or so just until it comes together into a smooth ball.

4. Roll the dough out with a rolling pin to a 9 inch circle about ¾ inch thick (2cm).

5. Transfer the dough to a tray greased with olive oil and score the dough all over the top in a criss-cross or diamond shape about 1 inch wide (see photos for reference).

6. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle over some sea salt. Bake in the middle shelf of the oven for 50 minutes.

7. Remove from the oven and brush with another 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil.

8. Let it cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Kitchen notes

• Don't over-knead knead the dough enough so it comes to a smooth ball. Over-kneading will cause the bread to become too tight and tough because there's no yeast in it.
• No extra flour needed because there is a lot of olive oil in the dough you shouldn't need to use any flour for kneading. If the dough is difficult to handle you can roll it in between baking parchment and bake it on a tray on baking parchment. The dough shouldn't be sticky.
• Scoring the dough this is done in a criss-cross or diamond shape all across the top of the dough and helps with breaking it into pieces when serving. Use a sharp knife to do this and don't cut down too deep.
• let it cool Pizza Scima is best served warm so let it cool for about 10 minutes before serving otherwise it'll be too hot.
• Serving break the Pizza Scima into pieces and serve it as you would bread or crackers with cured meats, cheese and dips. It's also addictively good on its own!
• Leftovers the flatbread is best served warm straight after baking but can be wrapped in foil or stored in a container when cool and eaten within 2-3 days.