If you’ve already stress-eaten all your muffins and your body is still craving the sweet release of death or the next 5 lbs of bread. This ones for you.

To be completely honest, Focaccia is legit one of my favorite breads in the world. It’s so versatile! You can make it with almost any kind of topping, you can slice it in half and make it into a sandwich, you can wrap it up and eat it along your journey as you walk along the barren streets like Will Smith in “I Am Legend”. It’s honestly simple, delicious, beautiful and fits any season and any flavor profile.

The first round of focaccia that Adrian made was a delicious rosemary infused, roasted tomato & onion topped magical concoction during the peak of the frenzy that Covid-19 had brought. I was heavily self-medicated and frantically trying to work through emails from panicked clients and vendors to coordinate new dates for their weddings.

Recipe

2 1/2 cups bread flour

3/4 cup + 2 tbsp EVOO

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 cup warm (not hot) water

3 tsp dry yeast (or 1.5 packets)

1/2 tsp sugar

3 cloves garlic

2 tbsps chopped rosemary

Topping

1/2 vidalia onion, sliced into thin strips

handful of cherry tomatoes

Instructions

Put yeast & sugar in cup of warm water, mix thoroughly. Wait until foaming
In a mixer wit ha hook attachment or a large bowl place your flour, salt & pepper and start mixing, add half yeast mixture after it is thoroughly combined add the other half. Let it knead for 10-12 minutes until surface is shiny & smooth.
While that is kneading, in a small pan heated over medium, chop your garlic and cook in 1/4 cup of your oil until it is golden and fragrant. Add your rosemary until fragrant. Set aside.
After the garlic/rosemary oil is cool, add to the dough mixture in your mixer and let incorporate fully.
Take another 1/4 cup of oil and coat a large bowl. Place dough in the bowl, cover it with a clean kitchen towel, place in a warm spot and every 20 minutes fold the dough back in on itself with the oil. Repeat this 3-4 times.
Take a square jellyroll pan or baking sheet and take 1/4 cup of EVOO and cover your baking sheet & sides. Stretch your dough out with your hands until all the air is out until it’s about 1/3 inch tall. Let proof for 25-30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 475. Place your tomatoes & 2 tbsps oil on a baking sheet or in a packet made of tin foil to roast 15-20 minutes.
When tomatoes are roasted down, remove from oven and let cool. Take your fingers and poke the focaccia down to create lots of little craters typical of focaccia.
Take your roasted tomatoes and onion slices and cover your focaccia evenly. Place in your oven and bake for 18-20 minutes. Checking on it around 15 minutes because every oven is different!
Take that beautiful sheet of bread out, let cool until warm and slice it up

Variations

Sandwich

This focaccia recipe has beautiful Italian flavors and is delicious on its own and works incredibly well as a sandwich. The next day for lunch we added fresh mozzarella & Prosciutto and the following we did fresh mozzarella and salami and it was chef kiss perfect.

Parmesan Zucchini

swap your rosemary for thyme and roast as normal with your garlic. For the topping, swap out onion & roasted tomatoes for sliced zucchini & squash then sprinkle with grated parmesan. Bake as normal!

Rosemary Olive

Swap your tomatoes with sliced green olives and keep everything else the same

Mushroom & Cheese

Swap your rosemary for thyme again. Add portabella & crimini mushrooms with crumbled goat cheese on top.