I grew up smack dab in the middle of CT and after moving all around the US, I’m surprised by the number of regional Italian specialties I grew up eating that I never saw again elsewhere. Like those thick slices of pizza, served cold and in rectangles, from Hartford; scacciata; and that whipped cream and strawberry cake I ate at dozens of confirmation parties and baptisms.
You’re speaking directly to my heart right here, I hope you know! And yes, if you’re not from around here, no one knows what you’re talking about when you say scacciata. P.S. to those from other areas: it’s really not “stuffed bread.” 
Don’t forget, there were peaches in that cake with the whipped cream, too. Ours always came from Livecchi’s back in the day.
In Palermo, I had a quality sandwich containing one giant slightly salted sliver of eggplant, garbanzos, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, and onions. Looking up a picture of scacciata makes me think that was the broad name for that type of sandwich. Grazij!
Interesting. Round heah, it’s not a sandwich, but a double-crusted pizza (top and bottom) stuffed with broccoli, spinach or potato (or a combo thereof) with or without sausage. My hometown (Middletown, Connecticut) is the sister city of Melilli, Sicily.
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Are you sure it wasn’t pane e panelle you were eating in Palermo? It’s classic street food, consisting of chick pea fritters and potato crocquettes on a bun, often with a slice of fried eggplant. One of my favorites…
Nice. Just about every part of Italy makes something they call “schiacciata”, but the Sicilian kind is my favorite. The name means squished or flattened. I had an outrageously delicious version of this one late evening outside of Ragusa (southeastern part of the island). It was multilayered and light and rich and oh-so-satisfying all at the same time. We found the place by mistake- we had spent quite a long time searching for some other restaurant in the area, getting on and off the highway and turning around again several times… when my husband (then-boyfriend) decided we should at least stop and see the glorious Castello di Donnafugata, glowingly visible from the main road. We ended up eating at the most obscure little hole in the wall because they were right there in the castle’s shadow and there was an empty little table outside. Oh, and we were starving. I’m so glad we did. As a person who is known to go overboard when planning trip itineraries, and planning entire vacations around specific meals at specific places, this was one time where I’m really grateful my plans didn’t work out
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Your description just took me there. GRAZIE!
that’s a great story and sometimes the best things are surprises. Nothing like just stumbling into awesomeness. So many of my favorite meals traveling have happened that way… perhaps because I was just so hungry and exasperated but still. Of course being in Italy ups your chances of stumbling onto awesomeness 10 fold.
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Quite sure…it wasn’t that type of bread, nor did it have potatoes. However, what you described sounds darn good.
(and now the search for that in NYC begins…)
Bensonhurst.
Check Joe’s of Ave U, just off McDonald Ave. in Brooklyn (F train stop right there). If they don’t have it, eat a good lunch there and ask them where you can get it.
(couldn’t locate the reply to multiple post button)
Continuing the discussion from Let's introduce ourselves and get to know one another better:
Thanks SteveR and Vvvindaloo for your replies…should’ve guessed Bensonhurst.
(By the by, that’s THE aforementioned eggplant sandwich.)
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Mmmmmmm!
Cacio e Vino in the East Village used to make good scacciata, but unfortunately, at a certain point some years ago, they took out their pizza oven.
