Focaccia caprese / Rosemary and onion focaccia

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.

Focaccia Caprese

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.

Basil Pesto Spaghetti

 Spaghetti/Noodles is a favorite meal in my house. Even my little one has started to like it. This meal gives enough opportunities to sneak healthy ingredients like vegetables and meat. Basil pesto is a very fresh and subtly delicious flavor to add to the spaghetti. 

Ingredients:

• 300 gms spaghetti noodles
  
• 2 cups of fresh italian basil leaves (I have used 1 cup of thai basil leaves, as that's what I had)
• 10 cloves of garlic
• 2 tbsp parmesan cheese
• 2 tbsp walnuts(I didn't use)
• zest of 1 lemon
• juice of half a lemon
• 1 - 2 tbsp olive oil for the pesto
• 1 tbsp olive oil for spaghetti
• 10 green or black pitted olives
• 1 yellow/red bell pepper 
• about 200 gms salad shrimps (optional -- for non-veg version)
• or you can add 1 or 3/4 cup of frozen corn (optional -- for vegetarian version)
• extra basil leaves, chopped walnuts, lemon slices and Parmesan cheese to garnish
• salt, pepper and red chili flakes according to taste

Recipe:

• Boil the spaghetti in enough salted water according to package directions.
• Mine took 13 minutes. Reserve around half cup of salted spaghetti water.

• Drain in a colander, and keep aside.

• Wash and clean the basil leaves. Remove the thick stalks. Peel garlic. Chop about half of it. 

• Take the basil leaves, remaining garlic, Parmesan cheese, walnuts, olive oil, lemon juice and pulse in a food processor or a blender for few seconds ....till u get a smooth puree.

• Add fresh lemon zest to the puree and mix.

• Heat a tbsp of olive oil in a pan. Add chopped garlic, red chili and saute for a minute. 

• Add the pesto paste and saute for another minute. 

• Add the chopped bell pepper and olives. Mix for 30 secs. 

• Add the frozen shrimps or the corn. Saute for another 30 secs to a minute. 

• Add the spaghetti, along with the salted water and mix well. 

• Add salt, pepper and dried chili flakes according to taste or if needed.(I didn't add any more salt)

• Serve hot, garnished with lemon slices, basil leaves, toasted walnuts and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Quantity:

• 2-3 servings

Notes:

• Use Italian basil leaves. That will give deep green color to the spaghetti and stronger flavor.
• Leave out shrimps to make a vegetarian version. Add corn, baby corn or maybe grilled zucchini or eggplants.
• Keep the heat, low to moderate after adding the basil pesto. Add other ingredients one after the other after the pesto, so as not to over cook it...!!! It doesn't really need to cook or over cook. 
• I didn't defrost the shrimps. It's better to defrost the shrimps or corn and bring it to room temperature, especially the cooked salad shrimps. You do not want to overcook(or even cook) them(as they are already cooked).

You can try these other spaghetti/pasta recipes too....

• Fettucine with creamy roasted bell pepper and feta *
• Roasted Vegetables and Pasta Salad *
• Penne with basil chicken

Penne with basil chicken

Hi... not many recipes from my kitchen for the past two months..... my mom was here.....so she was the cook and I concentrated on eating :) She cooked traditional balanced vegetarian Indian meals and I worked out a lot. Lost 3 kgs in past 2 months.... :) Can't seem to stop smiling about that....!!! Cooking by myself again is tiring, yet my kids are happy.... they love eating non-vegetarian food, which I didn't cook out of sheer boredom !! Here is a recipe, which brought a smile to my older kid's face. I had italian and thai basil in my pantry and my kid wanted to eat chicken, and I wanted to experiment for my blog... so this was the result.... I checked out few basil, chicken and pasta recipes ...however, many of them called for butter and cream, which I did not want to use !!! This is what I made, and it was delicious. 

Ingredients:

• about 250 gm chicken (boneless cut to strips or chicken mince)
  
• 350 gms penne pasta
• 1 cup of thai basil leaves
• 1 cup of italian basil leaves ( you can use different varieties or 2 cups of a kind)
• 1 whole garlic (about 10-12 cloves)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper 
• olives about 15 nos (I used the pitted ones in brine)
• 100 gms of baby corn
• 1/3 cup of frozen sweet corn
• Parmesan cheese and more basil leaves (to garnish)
• 1 tsp of dried red chili flakes
• 1 dried red chili

Recipe:

• Boil the penne according to instructions on the pack with enough water and salt. Drain, after reserving about 1/2 cup of salted water. Rinse the penne with cold water. 

• Wash and clean chicken. Dry it with paper towels or in a strainer and cut to small strips. (You can also mince it, in a food processor)
• Wash and clean the basil leaves and leave it in a strainer to drain most of the water.
• Add salt and pepper to the chicken.

• Grind about 5-6 cloves of garlic with a cup of thai basil leaves and add it to the chicken. 

• Rub the marinade on the chicken well and leave it for about 1/2 hour.

• Chop the remaining basil leaves roughly,grate rest of the garlic, drain the olives from the brine,and chop the baby corn.

• Heat 3 tbsps olive oil in a pan. Add grated garlic and red chili and saute for 1-2 minutes. 

• Once the garlic is browned a little, add the chicken with the marinade.

• Saute the chicken, till it is cooked.

• Add olives, and chopped baby corn.
• Cook for 2-3 minutes, till everything is well mixed. 

• Add frozen corn and chopped basil leaves.

• Add the boiled penne. Toss to mix. 

• Add the reserved salted water. I added the reserved salted water to the container in which I had used to grind the basil, kinda rinsed it with salted water and then added it to the pasta.

• Add the chili flakes. 

• Serve hot, garnished with fresh basil leaves and grated parmesan cheese.

Quantity:

• 4-5 servings

Notes:

• You can grind the basil leaves instead of chopping them, while adding to the pasta.
• You can add more or even less olive oil according to your taste, or garnish with more olive oil, while serving.
• Omit chicken for vegetarian version, and substitute with other vegetables.

You can try these other spaghetti/pasta recipes too....

• Fettucine with creamy roasted bell pepper and feta *
• Roasted Vegetables and Pasta Salad *
• Basil Pesto Spaghetti