In Tuscany, schiacciata — which is pronounced skee-ah-CHA-tah and roughly means “crushed,” “flattened” or “squashed” — is a versatile word applied to a variety of breads and bread-like things, from a piece of sweet focaccia studded with roasted grapes around the autumn harvest to a savory situation that more closely resembles a panino and comes stuffed with your choice of cured meats and cheeses.
In this recipe from my cookbook “Stuzzichini,” instead of the flour-based, focaccia-like traditional schiacciata, the base is made of blended root vegetables that get a boost from baked-in cheese. There’s a slight tang from beets, an earthy sweetness from carrots, and balancing saltiness and chew from pecorino.
