Zucchini Scarpaccia
Description
I spotted this on Instagram and scooted over to Alexandra’s Kitchen for the recipe. Thin, crispy, easy, easily doubled, and crazy good! Follow the steps and if in doubt, bake it for a few more minutes, crispier is always better. The recipe below works best in a 13 x 18-inch sheet pan, but I’ve also doubled this (cook it longer!) and it came out wonderfully in my high-sided 18 x 21 pan – enjoy!
Ingredients
soft butter for greasing the pan + about 2 T. cornmeal to coat the pan
2 lbs. (907 g) zucchini, very thinly sliced (I used my hand-held mandolin)
2 t. kosher salt
3/4 c. (94 g) flour AND 1/2 c. (76 g) cornmeal
1/2 c. (50 g) grated Parmesan + more for topping before baking
1 t. EACH garlic powder AND Aleppo pepper
1 small onion (about 200 g) peeled and very thinly sliced (I used the same mandolin)
Instructions
Place half of the thinly sliced zucchini into a colander, sprinkle on 1 teaspoon of the salt, then the rest of the zucchini, followed by the remaining salt, then give it all a good toss. Place the colander into a large bowl or on a high-sided plate and let the zucchini sit and drain for at least an hour – I left mine for the whole morning.
After the hour (or more), use your hands to press on the zucchini and ‘juice it’, making sure to save all of the liquid into a measuring cup, then grab a clean, thin tea towel, dump all of the zucchini in the middle, and grab up the 4 corners. Hold the corners and squeeze the ‘bag’ over the same measuring cup and try to remove as much liquid as possible. You’re now ready to get baking.
Preheat the oven to 425, generously butter your chosen baking sheet and then sprinkle on enough cornmeal to lightly and evenly cover the bottom. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, Parmesan, garlic powder and Aleppo pepper. Pour in about a 3/4 cup of reserved zucchini water (if you didn’t get enough, just add regular water to top it up), and whisk again until you have pancake-like batter – add a splash more water if you think it’s too thick. Use a sturdy spatula to fold in the zucchini and onion.
Spread this mix evenly across the bottom of your prepared pan – using your hands for the final distribution is definitely the easiest – and then press it all down so it’s an even thinness. Sprinkle on a little bit of Parmesan across the top and bake for about 45 minutes until all of it is a deep golden brown and the edges are obviously crispy. Allow the scarpaccia to rest for a few minutes before transferring to a cutting board to slice and serve.
