Ingredients Instructions In a large bowl, whisk together flour and salt and form a well in the middle. Add cold water and 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Start mixing the dough with a fork, incorporating the flour little by little.
Once the dough has come together, start kneading it with your hands. Knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes, until smooth. When the dough is ready, wrap it well with plastic wrap, being sure to expel all the air so your dough doesn’t dry out, and let it rest for an hour at room temperature.
Preheat oven to very hot 480°F. Divide the dough into two equal parts and roll each piece out on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin, trying to keep them as round and as thin as possible. I rolled these ones a little thick, because we find it easier to handle when it’s more sturdy, but traditionally it should be almost transparent.
Grease a medium sized round pizza tray (not the type with holes in it, or you will have a very messy oven) or baking dish with olive oil. Place one layer of dough on the bottom of the dish. Add the cheese in pieces using your hands.
Cover the cheese with the second sheet of dough. Use a knife or a pair of kitchen shears to remove any excess dough from around the edges of the pan.
Seal the edges by pinching them together. Snip small holes into the top layer of dough so that the steam can escape during baking. Brush with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
Bake in the centre of a preheated very hot oven for 6 - 8 minutes, until golden. When the focaccia is done, remove it from the oven and let cool enough to be handled.
Transfer to a platter, cut it and serve as an appetizer or with an aperitif.
For the month of April’s Daring Baker’s Challenge Rachael of Pizzarossa and Sawsan of Chef in Disguise took us on a trip to Italy. They challenged us to try our hands at making Focaccia from scratch. Original recipe adapted from here.
Focaccia is a type of flat Italian bread that is baked in the oven. Focaccia can be topped with a variety of toppings ranging from rosemary and sea salt to different types of cheese, herbs, vegetables and even fruit. We were tempted with four different kinds of Focaccia – Basic Focaccia,Sour Dough Focaccia,Fugazza and Focaccia di Recco and asked to make any one or all of them. The first three is something I have already made in the past. Focaccia di Recco was something new to me so I decided to go ahead with it. Focaccia di Recco is from the northern coastal region of Italy called Liguria. It is unleavened and stuffed with Stracchino (Crescenza), which is a very young cheese with a fine rind barely encapsulating a gooey cheese much like a very thick mascarpone.
If you can’t get Stracchino (Crescenza), you can use another young, melty cheese – I have used fresh mozzarella for this recipe. This recipe will make more dough than you need if you roll it as thinly as is traditionally done, but you can freeze the excess, well wrapped in a zip lock bag, for several months.
As per the recipe, this Focaccia should take about 5-6 minutes to bake. But mine took more than 15minutes. It didn’t brown well on top so I let it bake for long enough. It overbaked and the cheese was no more goey. I could cut it and serve it without any mess. They are best eaten immediately. However it can also be refrigerated overnight and reheated the next day. Making this bread is super easy, simple ingredients and utterly delicious!
Enjoy!
Nina
I made this one too…loved it and it is going to be on my always to do list…lovely pictures
thanks Manal:)
Your Focaccia di Recco looks so delicious!
Gorgeous photos!
Thanks:)
I think this recipe looks so delicious. I did not think making focaccia was this easy. Thanks for sharing!
Suzanne Holt recently posted..Wondering what is in your Norwex Timeless Line Personal Care Products?
I hope you would try this one Suzanne, its pretty simple one Suzanne!