Schiacciata di Patate -- Italian Crispy Potato Flatbread

Sonia Peronaci walks through a schiacciata di patate, a baked Italian potato flatbread with a golden, crackling crust. The base is grated raw potato bound with flour and cheese, pressed flat onto an oiled baking sheet, then topped with paper-thin potato slices that crisp up in the oven. She warns upfront that this one is addictive, and based on the crunch in the opening shot, she is not exaggerating.

Ingredients

• Potatoes (peeled) -- enough for both the base mixture and the sliced topping
• Fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• Pecorino cheese, grated
• Parmigiano cheese, grated
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Flour
• Water

Method

1. Peel the potatoes. Grate them on the large holes of a box grater (julienne side) for the base mixture.
2. In a large bowl, combine the grated potato with chopped rosemary, pecorino, parmigiano, olive oil, and pepper. Mix.
3. Add a pinch of salt and the flour. Pour in water and stir until you get a dense, thick batter.
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and coat it generously with olive oil, spreading it evenly across the surface.
5. Spoon the potato batter onto the sheet and flatten it out with the back of a spoon. Sonia shows a simple trick here: use the spoon to press and spread the mixture into an even layer.
6. Cut the remaining potatoes into very thin slices. Pat them dry with paper towels to remove excess moisture.
7. Arrange the thin potato slices on top of the flattened base, overlapping them slightly so the surface is fully covered.
8. Season the top with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with more pecorino and parmigiano. Finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
9. Bake in a static (non-convection) oven at 200 degrees Celsius (about 390 Fahrenheit) for 40 minutes.

Key Takeaways

• Grate, do not mash. The large-hole julienne grate gives the base its texture. Mashed potato would make this dense and gummy instead of crisp.
• Pat the topping slices dry. Removing surface moisture from the thin potato slices is what lets them crisp rather than steam in the oven.
• Static oven, not fan. Sonia specifies a static oven setting. Fan-forced convection can dry the edges before the center cooks through.
• Oil the parchment. Even with parchment paper, the olive oil on the sheet is doing double duty: preventing sticking and helping the bottom layer fry and crisp during baking.
• Overlap the slices. The slight overlap on the topping creates layers that puff and separate in the heat, giving the surface more crunch.