Grape focaccia

Method

1. Preparing the dough
   
   This can be done the night before you need to bake it, or a couple of hours ahead of time.
2. Sift the flour into a large bowl and create a well in the centre.
3. Dissolve the yeast in about 125 ml of the lukewarm water.
4. Add the yeast mixture to the centre of the flour and mix with your hand or a wooden spoon. Add the rest of the water little by little, working the dough well after each addition to allow the flour to absorb all the water.
5. Add 1 tablespoon of the extra-virgin olive oil to the dough and combine.
6. This is quite a wet, sticky dough. Rather than knead, you may need to work it with a wooden spoon or with well-oiled hands for a few minutes until it is smooth. Cover the bowl of dough well with some plastic wrap and set it in a warm place away from draughts until it doubles in size, about 1 hour. If doing this the night before, leave the dough in the bowl to rise in the fridge overnight.
7. Assembling the schiacciata
   
   Separate the grapes from the stem, then rinse and pat dry. There’s no need to deseed them if making this the traditional way (see note).
8. Preheat the oven to 190°C.
9. Grease a 20 cm × 30 cm baking tin or a round pizza tray with olive oil. With well-oiled hands, divide the dough into two halves, one slightly larger than the other. Place the larger half onto the greased pan and with your fingers, spread the dough out evenly to cover the pan or so that it is no more than 1.5 cm thick.
10. Place about two-thirds of the grapes onto the first dough layer and sprinkle over half of the sugar, followed by about 30 ml of olive oil and ½ teaspoon of the aniseed, if using.
11. Stretch out the rest of the dough to roughly the size of the pan and cover the grapes with this second layer of dough, stretching to cover the bottom surface. Roll up the edges of the bottom layer of dough from underneath to the top, to seal the edges of the schiacciata. Gently push down on the surface of the dough to create little dimples all over. Cover the top with the rest of the grapes and evenly sprinkle over the remaining aniseed, sugar and olive oil.
12. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the dough becomes golden and crunchy on top and the grapes are oozing and cooked.
13. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares and enjoy eaten with your hands. If you like, dust with icing sugar just before serving – although this isn’t exactly traditional, it is rather nice.
14. This is best served and eaten the day of baking, or at the most the next day.