Had I known, I would have made these outside on the burner on my grill. At the end of this meal, I’ve got an oil slick to clean off the ceramic stove top, but I’ve also got two happy kids who asked for MORE. FTW.
I just discovered schiacciatina today on Pinterest. And then, as I often do, I repinned it to my Culinary Delights board and commented on the original blog that I was going to give it a go with ground turkey. So I did. Four thumbs up from the Benderettes.
Credit where credit is due. This recipe is from Manuela. AWESOME, Girlfriend!
Here’s the deal: This is as messy as making chicken piccata. If you can grill outside like me,
I suggest that’s what you do. I mean, if your grill has a side burner like mine does, I suggest you fry these up out there. If I know I’ve got a big splattering session ahead of me, I’ll set up the outdoor kitchen and go for it. If you’re on the East Coast or other frigid parts of the U.S. Mainland, maybe wait until the cold snap is over before you do this. But then again, maybe this is NO BIG DEAL to many of my friends.
How is it that a girl like me from New Jersey — with many Italian friends — never knew about this dish before today? HOW? The Fucco’s lived up the street! The Petti’s let me hang out with them! Sue Constantini was my Mom’s BFF! The Tartaglias, the LoPrestis, the D’Ascendis, Dimero, Giardineli, Manzano, and
Datalilio kids were our playmates! And I never knew about SHE A CHIA TINA? TINA DEFELICE! HAVE I FINALLY CRACKED THE CODE? In the name of the Father…
Recipe: Schiacciatina
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1/2 cup fresh and finely grated Romano cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Butter
- Olive oil
- Flour for dredging (my buddy Wondra)
With your hand, mix meat with cheese, salt and pepper and smoosh, smoosh, smoosh, until it’s well homogenized. Divide into 4-6 balls. Sprinkle some Wondra or fine flour on parchment paper and flatten the balls one at a time, even pounding them till they’re about 1/4 inch thick. Lightly dust the patties with the flour, careful not to have too much. These are hard to pick up so use the parchment to help. Melt butter and olive oil on hot skillet and gently place patty into the sizzling oil and butter. It’ll sizzle. Give them a few minutes on each side, and remove them to a plate covered with foil to keep warm.
I served mine with sautéed tricolored fingerling potatoes, broccoli, and baby kale quickly fried in the pan where the meat fried.
Expect admiration for the rest of the night.
Lavagal 
I am soooo glad you liked it! AND that your kids enjoyed it too, just like mine! When I make this for dinner, I never have leftovers! :-)))) Thank you also for your kind words! Love the idea of using the side burner of my bbq! I will have to try it next time… it will save me some cleaning up (which I hate too!). 🙂
I need to try that. Isn,t it just burgers? Sent from my iPad
Mom: You’d think they were just like burgers, and we do tend to do add ins to jazz them up. But these have just freshly grated Parmesan (in my case, Romano) cheese in them, and salt and pepper. Then they’re pounded flat, really flat. Kinda cooks up like a chicken cutlet for picatta. Plain and simple.
Manu! Mahalo for your response! Great to connect with you!
Gosh. Had to fix the typos. Believe me, you need FOIL to keep them warm, not OIL. LOL
Hey Hey Paula!
Schiacciata is a Tuscan (sometimes sweet) flatbreat.
So schiacciatine probably means “small flatbread”.
Since it’s Tuscan and most Italians who emigrated to the US are from every other province in Italy but Tuscany (because, let’s face it – if you lived in Tuscany, would you leave?), in our dialect is was called something else (probably close to this name). Anyone, it’s interesting that it’s made with meat instead of flour.
I know when we were little and being particularly ornery, my Nanny Petti and my mom used to tell all of us: “You make me schiacciata!” which meant what? “You make me flatbread!”? Bwahaha.
Love ya,
Sue
Reblogged this on Eat At Mom's and commented:
My family calls these meat pancakes because they are pretty wide and flat and could fill your plate! It is amazing how easy this is. I have a burner on the grill and I put my giant cast-iron skillet on it because these cook so hot and fast.