Scachatta

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http://www.saveur.com/scachatta-italian-sicilian-bread-pizza-segundo-bakery-tampa-florida

Tampa scachatta is one of those culinary-linguistic conundrums, sharing a similar name and heritage to various pizza-like breads on both side of the Atlantic, but with a murky origin that’s hard to pinpoint. On my tour of Tampa’s Cuban and Italian bakeries, I saw it spelled scachatta, scacciata, and at the more Spanish and Cuban-leaning establishments, escachata. An old article from the Tampa Tribune in the 1950s (the earliest reference I could find to American scachatta) spells it scaciata and scaciato, and it describes a recipe that calls for oregano, chorizo, and Worcestershire sauce. In Sicily, scacciatta (not to be confused with scaccia or sfincione pizza) is a double-crust baked pie that’s more calzone-like than the Tampa version, where farther north in Italy, schiaciatta usually refers to a denser focaccia or flatbread with various toppings.

Tampa scachatta (I’m sticking with the Italian-American spelling to differentiate from the above Italian specialties) is more like Philadelphia tomato pie or Rhode Island pizza strips, sauce-based with a lighter dough and served at room temperature. You’ll find it almost exclusively at Cuban-Italian hybrid bakeries, side by side with Cuban bread, guava pastries, and cannolis. But even within one region there are variations; some of the more Cuban-leaning scachatta goes heavier on the spices, and possibly even includes corn or cassava flour in the dough.

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Also, from Facebook group "Tampa!!! BORN AND RAISED AND I REMEMBER WHEN....":

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https://www.facebook.com/groups/310153813673/permalink/10154426548253674/

What is scachatta, you ask?

Scachatta is a type of flat, square pizza. Alessi’s scachatta is a Sicilian recipe involving a soft, evenly textured bread, lightly scattered cheese, a sweet — but not sugary — tomato sauce, and seasoned ground beef.

CREDIT: That Tampa Guy .com Blog.

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I can also confirm this comment from memory about Maria's, on Westshore, hot from the oven scachatta, served in a big square pan; this is the exception however as everything else referred to as Tampa scachatta is served cold:

(Facebook reader comment:) I remember something like this from Maria's on Westshore, they called it Scachatta it was served warm and had lots of ground beef and cheese, it was really good but a bit different than the kind we see in bakeries, it was served the same way. I miss that place.

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Also link below to the blog post quoted above.

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http://www.thattampaguy.com/alessi-bakery 

Alessi Bakery Cuban Sandwiches, Scachatta & Pastries Rule

Tampa has several excellent restaurants that are considered iconic to the city — Alessi Bakery is one of those select places that are among the greats. Alessi Bakery dates back to 1912 and has been an institution in the city ever since.

Alessi Bakery is well known for its great Cuban sandwiches, delicious deviled crabs, sumptuous pastries, and elaborate wedding cakes. And I can’t write this piece without a shout out to the Alessi scachatta.