Schiacciata di Patate, Crispy Potato Flatbread

Schiacciata di Patate is a crispy Italian flatbread made with potatoes, rosemary and lots of pecorino cheese. It's beautifully golden and crispy on the outside with a soft and creamy middle. This is such a good snack, antipasto or bite to serve with drinks.

Recipe overview

• The recipe: a thin and crispy potato flatbread made without yeast.
• Flavour and texture: Cheesy potato with fragrant rosemary, crispy and crunchy on the outside with a soft and creamy middle.
• Prep and bake time: 1 hour 10 minutes
• Serves: 8 large slices or 16 small
• Suited to: serving to guests as an aperitivo or antipasto with drinks.

Jump to recipe

There are lots of different versions of Schiacciata di Patate. Some are made with traditional leavened dough topped with potatoes while others are thin and crispy savoury flatbreads made without yeast.

This style of schiacciata is something our mother-in-law makes often when we visit. She makes it as a quick snack, and it's good.

Our version uses lots of grated potato in the base with Pecorino Romano and fresh rosemary, then it's topped with thin slices of potato and more cheese before baking until golden and crispy.

It's the solid snack to serve with drinks for an aperitivo or serve it with cured meats, cheese and olives as part of an antipasto spread.

Ingredient notes

• Potatoes: We like to use a floury potato for a soft and creamy middle. We use Maris Piper, but if you're in the US, Russet is a great option.
• Pecorino Romano: We love using salty Pecorino Romano for this, but Parmigiano Reggiano also works well. You can even use a combination of both.
• Flour: We use Italian 00 flour, but all-purpose flour will work as well.
• Rosemary: fresh rosemary and potato is such a good combination, but fresh thyme will also work well.

Recipe tips and FAQs

Squeeze excess water from the potato: it's important to squeeze excess water from the potato after grating it so the mixture isn't too wet. We put the potatoes in a colander and squeeze them with our hands.

Use baking parchment: instead of using a butter knife or spoon, use a sheet of baking parchment on top of the potato mixture to spread it out into a thin, even layer. It makes the process easy.

Grating the potatoes: We use the grater attachment on our food processor, which takes seconds to grate all the potatoes. If you don't have this, you can use a box grater instead. If you are grating them in batches, we recommend keeping the whole peeled potatoes submerged in cold water until you are ready to grate them to stop them oxidising.

Slicing the potatoes: We use a knife to thinly slice the potatoes for the topping and do this after making the base filling. If you have a mandoline, then use that as it's suited to getting thin slices. We have tried the slicer attachment on our food processor, but it cut the potato a little too thick, and the schiacciata needed an extra 10 minutes to cook.

What does Schiacciata mean?

Schiacciata comes from the Italian verb 'schiacciare' which means to squash, flatten, or press. It's commonly associated with a thin and crispy Tuscan focaccia but is also used to describe many other Italian recipes with a thin or flat texture.

More Italian snacks to try

Bread & Savory Bakes

Danubio Salato (Neapolitan Stuffed Brioche Buns)

Antipasti

Cinque e Cinque (5×5 Livornese Sandwich)

Antipasti

Cheesy Puff Pastry Potato Tart

Antipasti

Frico (Cheesy, Potato and Onion Cake)

Ingredients

Makes 8 servings

Schiacciata base

• 570 g (1 lb 4 oz) Potatoes ((Maris Piper or Russet))
• 140 g (1 cup) Italian 00 or all-purpose flour
• 120 ml (½ cup) water
• 70 g (1 cup) Pecorino Romano (finely grated)
• 1 large sprig rosemary (finely chopped)
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil (plus extra for greasing)

Topping

• 250 g (9oz) Potatoes (very finely sliced)
• 30 g Pecorino Romano ((generous ½ cup) finely grated)
• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Equipment

• Baking tray
• Baking parchment

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180℃/350℉ fan or 200℃/400℉ conventional.

2. Lightly grease a 11x14inch (28x35cm) baking tray and line with baking parchment (this helps the parchment stick to the tray). Set aside.

To make the schiacciata base

1. Peel and grate the potatoes (you can use the grater attachment on a food processor or large holes on a box grater).

2. Squeeze as much water out of them as possible with your hands, then place them in a large mixing bowl.

3. Add the finely chopped rosemary, grated pecorino, a pinch of black pepper and a generous pinch of salt and mix until combined.

4. Next, add the olive oil and flour and mix well. Finally, add the water and mix it into the potato until everything is fully incorporated.

5. Drizzle around 1 tablespoon of olive oil on the parchment lined tray and tip the mixture on top. Place another sheet of baking parchment on top and use your hands to spread the mixture into a thin even layer all over the tray.

6. Peel off the top sheet of baking parchment and set aside.

To make the topping

1. Peel the remaining potatoes and cut them as thinly as possible. Arrange them in an even layer all over the schiacciata. Sprinkle over a pinch of salt and pepper, then the finely grated Pecorino Romano.

2. Drizzle 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil over the top and bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes until crispy and golden all over.

3. Remove from the oven and transfer the schiacciata to a cooling rack for 5-10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Kitchen notes

• Storage: The schiacciata is best eaten while still warm from the oven, when it tastes its best, but it will keep well for 1-2 days in the fridge.
• Reheating: Although the schiacciata can be eaten cold, it's much better reheated. Reheat in the oven at 180C/350F for 10-15 minutes.