Focaccia is the bread, I always wanted to make since I started baking. It is said to be a very easy one, and one of the very first bread, you should try when you start learning bread baking. I am learning to bake a bread a month, since I joined +Aparna Balasubramanian 's bread baking group and this is the bread we are baking in January 2014. Focaccia is kind of a flat bread which originated in Greece, though it is made in different ways in different parts of Italy. There is even a sweet version.
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| Focaccia Caprese |
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| Rosemary and Onion focaccia |
It looks similar to a pizza, some of the differences are that focaccia is usually has a thicker and more spongier crust and pizza has a thinner and crispier one. Focaccia is usually topped with herbs, oil and garlic and pizza has different toppings. Focaccia is served warm or at room temperature and pizza is generally served hot, right off the oven... well, that's the trivia and more about it here.....:)
I made Focaccia Caprese, a version of focaccia made in the Capri region of Italy. The toppings used for this version of focaccia are tomatoes, fresh basil and buffalo mozzarella cheese. I also had some fresh rosemary leaves, so I made another one with the topping of herbed oil, rosemary and onions. Both, versions of bread were very tasty and were gobbled down by all of us in matter of minutes. I served it with "Couscous and chickpea salad" and it was a wonderful meal. Recipe adapted from "The kitchen whisperer"
Ingredients:
For the dough:
- 2 tsp instant yeast
- 1 and 1/2 tbsp of sugar
- 3 and 1/2 cups of bread flour(I used regular all purpose flour)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 to 1 and 1/2 cup warm water
- A little more olive oil to knead and brush on the dough (1-3 tsps)
For the herbed oil:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tbsp of mixed dried italian herbs like dried basil, oregano, etc
- 3-4 garlic cloves grated
- 1 tsp red chili flakes
- 1/2 tsp salt
For the topping:
- 2 tomatoes cut in thin slices
- buffalo mozzarella cheese cut to disks(I used the regular mozzarella)
- fresh basil leaves to garnish
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 1 onion cut to discs, or chopped to thin long slices and separated.
Recipe:
- Grate the garlic and whisk all the ingredients for herbed oil together and keep it aside.
- You can make the dough with hand or by machine.
- Take the flour, sugar, salt, yeast, and oil in a food processor or a large bowl.
- Mix them well, with hands or a whizz in the machine for about 30-40 seconds.
- Add water and continue mixing, till it comes together as a non sticky dough.
- Take it out in a well oiled bowl and knead with hands for about 2-3 minutes till it comes together as a smooth ball of dough.
- Keep it aside, covered with a plastic wrap or kitchen towel till it doubles up in volume. It will take about an hour or hour and half.
- I used a rectangular pan 22 cm by 18 cm and a square pan with 20 cm sides.
- Divide the dough according to the size of the pan u use. I divided the dough in 3 parts.
- Oil the pan and stretch the dough by patting it. Top with a tsp of olive oil and keep it to rise for another 20-30 minutes.
- Make some dents/dimples on the surface of the dough with your finger and pour about 2-3 tsp of herbed oil on top of the dough.
- Bake it for 18-20 minutes in a preheated oven at 210 degrees centigrade.
- Take the focaccia out when the top is golden.
- Get the ingredients ready for topping. Slice tomatoes and cheese to thin slices. Wash and clean the basil and rosemary. Chop the onions.
- Layer mozzarella slices, tomatoes, rosemary and onions and top with more herbed oil.
- Increase the oven temperature to 230 degrees and bake for another 5 minutes till the mozzarella is melted and the top is golden brown.
- Serve cut into slices or squares warm or at room temperature.
Quantity:
- about 3 focaccia breads... 2 of 22cm*18cm and 1 square pan size of 20 cm.
- serves 4 people along with a side comfortably.
Notes:
- You can make 4 small individual serving breads. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions are roll them(press them) to 5 by 7 inch ovals.
- Cut them out in squares or slices for easy "pick me up" snack.
