Italian potato bread

I have discovered that my absolute favourite time for cooking is a Saturday evening, beginning at 5pm.

The trouble with this penchant is that – at least in our house – not everyone tends to be hungry at this time on a Saturday evening, especially if there’s been a bit of a lie-on, a late breakfast and an even later lunch – as tends to be the case on luxurious weekends.

However, when 5 o’clock on a Saturday rolls around, I’m like a coiled spring. I am the wide-eyed greyhound in the traps. I am a jack-in-the-box in an apron. I am the imminence of wild abandon.

“Anybody hungry yet?” I query of the troops at five bells on the button.

A chorus of “not reallys” usually returns, following by a few muttered oaths in disappointment from yours truly.

Twenty minutes later and I’ll try it again…

“Anybody hungry yet?”

“Not really!”

“That’s it!” I announce. “There’s to be no more lie-ons in this house anymore!”

Although, I am usually ignored.

As soon as the go-ahead is received though (normally around 6-ish), three things happen all at once. It goes like this…

“Anybody hungry yet?”

“Yeah!”

“Alexa! Play ‘Michael’s Deadliest Playlist’ on Spotify.” Before Alexa can even comply I am already opening a beer and washing my hands, all at the same time. And then I’m headlong into an evening’s culinary creation.

I have also discovered that, in a bid to circumvent this Saturday evening delay, there are recipes which work well cooked ahead of time. Take lasagne or katsu curry or sushi for examples; these things are perfectly achievable ahead of time and then they are perfectly happy to sit in their juices and await their own personal judgement day. This is great for me in a two-pronged way: It scratches the cooking itch and moreover, when the time comes to plate-up later in the evening when fatigue rears its shaggy head with the bloodshot eyes, effort on my part is minimal.

Most importantly, there is another dish I have discovered which works as a fantastic five o’clock Saturday mission. It’s great pre-prepared, it takes a good 40 minutes in the oven and it’s arguably better when it’s allowed to sit a while in those aforementioned juices. The dish? Potato schiacciata.

Think the satisfaction of potato bread but with added chewy-crispiness courtesy of olive oil and parmesan and a lengthy sojourn in the oven. If potato bread and pizza had a child, most like they’d name it, Schiacciata.

This is the basic version of schiacciata, but it’s very much open to interpretation in terms of toppings. You could add garlic to the mix or your favourite herb and I don’t think it would be considered a cardinal sin to top with torn mozzarella, crushed cherry tomatoes and Parma ham upon its exit from the oven.

INGREDIENTS

400g of potatoes, peeled and grated.

200ml of water

200g of plain flour

Half a tsp of salt

Lots of freshly ground black pepper

Half tsp of dried rosemary

Good pinch of dried chilli flakes

70g of freshly grated parmesan

2 tbsps of olive oil

THE PLAN

Pre-heat the oven to 190C and as that’s happening, make the batter.

Grate the potato into a bowl and then dump in everything else. Give it plenty of elbow-grease mixing with a wooden spoon.

Now, line a tart dish or shallow baking tray with baking parchment and then pour your spuddy mix into the dish or tray and spread out to the edges.

Top with a little more parmesan and olive oil and then retire the juvenile schiacciata to the oven and walk away.

Let it rip for 40 minutes at least, or until it’s golden and crispy on top and it feels quite solid to the touch.

Remove from the oven, top with yet more parmesan and olive oil and then divide into eatable portions as in the picture. Devour.

“Anybody hungry yet?”

“Yeah!”

“Alexa…”