Scaccia

I decided to make the scaccia, another King Arthur's ExtraOrdinary Bread recipe. Since it is also known as lasagna bread, I decided to add sausage and cottage cheese in addition to the tomato sauce and cheese.

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (141g) water, lukewarm
• 1 teaspoon instant yeast
• 1 tablespoons (12g) extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup (116g) bread flour
• 1 cup (116g) semolina flour
• 1 teaspoon salt

Filling:

• one 14.5-ounce can tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• pinch (1/16 teaspoon) black pepper
• 1 teaspoon each basil and oregano
• 6 to 8 ounces (170g to 227g) mozzarella
• 6 ounces ricotta or cottage cheese
• 8 ounces sausage, cooked and ground

Instructions:

1. Weigh your flour and other ingredients.
2. Place water, yeast and oil in bowl of bread machine, Add in flour and salt.
3. Let bread machine mix dough, and proof the dough through the dough cycle.
   (I will double the recipe next time - this made a very small ball in the bread machine.)
4. While the dough is rising, mix the spices into the tomato sauce.
5. Toward the end of the dough’s rise, preheat the oven to 425°F. Line the inside of a 9” x 5” loaf pan  with parchment paper.
6. Place the dough on a greased or lightly floured work surface about 24” x 30” in area.
7. Roll the dough into a very thin rectangle as close to 18" x 24” as you can make it. (It will be thin enough to see through it in places. If the dough resists stretching, cover it and let it rest for 10 minutes or so, to relax.) 




8.  Thinly spread half the sauce in the middle of the dough. Add cheese and other toppings if using.
   
9. Fold the two un-sauced sections over the center sauced area, overlapping them slightly where they meet.
   
   
   
   
10. Spread about 2/3 of the remaining tomato sauce evenly over the center sections and top with 2/3 of the remaining cheese and ingredients.
    
    
    
    
11. Fold the two unsauced sections over the sauced center, overlapping them slightly where they meet.
    
12. Spread the remaining sauce over the left two sections and top with the remaining cheese and ingredients.
    (I decided to cover it all)
    
    
    
13. Fold the right (un-sauced) section over the center section and then fold the left (sauce-covered) section over both.
    (Or sauce everything, and fold in half like I did, depending in the size of your dough.)
    
14. Transfer the loaf seam-side up to the prepared pan and pierce the top with a fork about a dozen times.
    
    
    
    
15. Bake the loaf for 50 to 60 minutes, until the top is quite brown and a digital thermometer inserted into the center of the loaf reads 212°F.
    
16. Remove the loaf from the pan using the parchment paper, and let it cool on a rack. (after a few minutes, remove the parchment paper.)
    
    
    
    
17. Allow the scaccia to cool for about 10 minutes, before cutting it into thick slices. Serve warm or at room temperature.
18. Store leftover scaccia, well wrapped, in the refrigerator. Toast slices or reheat to serve.
 

Carole's Notes:

We liked this! I used sausage and cottage cheese to make a lasagna bread version. The next time I will skip the cottage cheese and add pepperoni to make it a more pizza bread, per Doug's request.

I might apply the sauce more thinly for pizza bread, and split the sauce between two loaves.

The recipe is lightly adapted from https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/scaccia-recipe