Spianatine with Onions and Cheese

Spianatine with onions and cheese are a rustic and tasty dish, ideal as an appetizer or for an aperitivo. Here’s how to prepare them:

Ingredients

• 250 g of bread dough (or pizza dough)
• 2 large onions
• 100 g of soft cheese (such as mozzarella or stracchino)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Aromatic herbs (rosemary or thyme) according to preference
• (optional) Anchovies in oil or olives to enrich

Preparation

1. Start by preparing the topping. Finely slice the onions and let them soften in a pan with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and the finely chopped aromatic herbs. If desired, you can also add anchovies in oil or olives cut into pieces for a more intense flavor.

2. Take the already leavened bread dough and divide it into balls of about 60-70 grams. Roll out each ball with a rolling pin until you get disks about 5 mm thick.

3. Place the dough disks on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and brush the surface with a thin layer of extra virgin olive oil.

4. Evenly distribute the cold onion sauté on the dough disks, leaving a border of about 1 cm.

5. Cut the soft cheese into slices and arrange them on top of the onions.

6. Bake the spianatine in a preheated oven at 200 °C for about 15-20 minutes or until the edges are golden and the cheese is slightly melted.

7. Serve the spianatine warm or at room temperature.

Fun Facts

The spianatine with onions and cheese are a variant of classic Genoese focaccia. The softness of the cheese and the flavor of the caramelized onions pair perfectly with the crispiness of the pizza-like base. In Italy, this type of preparation is much loved for its simplicity and versatility and lends itself well to being enriched with the most diverse flavors.

If you have other ingredients on hand or have particular preferences, I can suggest variations to customize the recipe even more.