We are approaching our third week of teleworking here in Ohio. Just yesterday, I found out I will likely continue teleworking until May. When I’m not at work, I’m spending most of my time testing out recipes in the kitchen. I’ve been baking quite a bit lately using mainly ingredients found in my pantry. Whenever possible, I like to pair pantry ingredients with whatever fresh ingredients I have on hand. Usually, I’m able to work fresh or frozen fruits into my dough. This week, I felt compelled to use up the rainbow tomatoes I had sitting on my counter from a few weeks ago. The tomatoes haven’t gone bad just yet, but the skin on a couple have begun to shrivel. I had purchased the tomatoes to make an anniversary pizza dish a few weeks back and forgot to use up the rest until this week. I wanted to find a way to use up the tomatoes, so I decided to make focaccia. Focaccia is a very popular type of bread served in many Italian restaurants, bakeries, and shops all over the world. When Kevin and I traveled to Italy last spring, we had some of the most amazing focaccia. The ones we had were typically served as an afternoon snack and had a variety of herbs laced throughout. During the two weeks of our honeymoon in Italy, focaccia became an occasional snack whenever we weren’t loading up on pizza, pasta, salad, or gelato. The focaccia I remember eating always had indentations all over. Within the indentations were a variety of herbs – typically rosemary. The bottoms were ultra-crispy. The tops were sprinkled with kosher salt, a drizzle of olive oil, and more herbs. I set out to recreate the focaccia I remember eating after my research led me to realize the ingredients in focaccia were the same ingredients in my pizza dough recipe. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how easy it was to convert my pizza dough into focaccia dough. My pizza dough is super versatile and has been used to craft some of my favorite carbs. I’ve used it to make endless pizzas, rolled it out to make variations of pretzels, folded it up to make Stromboli, tied it up to make garlic knots, and this week, I transformed it into focaccia. I prepared the dough for my focaccia pretty much the same way I prepared my pizza dough. Instead of a combination of flours, or double zero flour, I only used all-purpose flour. I ended up using all-purpose flour because I had about 1/3 of a bag left sitting in my pantry, and I didn’t want to open up a new bag. I prepared the dough by combining some all-purpose flour and kosher salt in a bowl. Separately, I combined some lukewarm water, active dry yeast, and sugar in a glass measuring cup. If I was making pizza, I would let the dough rise undisturbed overnight, but I was eager to have some focaccia, so I only left the dough to rise undisturbed for about an hour. The temperature in my kitchen was also very warm from the sunshine we’ve been getting in Ohio, which helped the dough rise quicker than it typically would take. While the dough was left to rise, I quartered some of the larger tomatoes and halved the rest of the smaller tomatoes. After an hour has passed and the yeast has had some time to work its magic, it was time to remove the dough from the bowl and make some focaccia. I incorporated olive oil, rainbow tomatoes, a few dashes of oregano, a generous sprinkle of kosher salt, and freshly cracked black pepper into the dough. Once baked, the dough turned into the most beautiful looking focaccia. The focaccia had a wonderful, fluffy artisanal bread texture, a golden-brown top, and a crispy bottom. The combination of tomatoes and oregano was beyond delicious. The tomatoes, after roasting in the oven, added a distinct sweetness. The dried oregano added an earthy note. The additional kosher salt sprinkled on top right before baking added a salty crisp to the top layer of the bread. Kevin and I couldn’t contain our joy as we enjoyed the focaccia. The texture of focaccia reminded me of the texture in the Sicilian pizza I grew up eating in Brooklyn. Whenever pizza cravings kicked in, my brothers and I would make a special trip out to L&B Spumoni Gardens to enjoy the highly rated Sicilian pizza. We would order a large rectangular slab, eat as many squares as we could, and finish off our meal with the restaurant’s specialty spumoni ice cream. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how easy it would be to turn my pizza dough into focaccia, and focaccia into Sicilian pizza. I’ll save the experiment for another day. Today, I’ll focus on marveling in the joy of my focaccia with rainbow tomatoes and dried oregano.
For the focaccia with rainbow tomatoes and dried oregano:
For the dough:
· 2½ cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for kneading the dough
· 1 teaspoon kosher salt
· ½ teaspoon active dry yeast
· 1 teaspoon fine sugar
· 1 cup water
· 2 teaspoons olive oil
· 1 tablespoon olive oil
For the rest of the focaccia:
· 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
· 10-15 rainbow tomatoes, halved or quartered
· ½ teaspoon dried oregano
· ½ teaspoon kosher salt
· ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
Directions:
1) In a large bowl, combine the flour and kosher salt. Set aside. In a measuring cup or bowl, dissolve the yeast and sugar into the lukewarm water. Let the yeast mixture sit for about five minutes to allow it to activate. After five minutes, pour the mixture into the bowl with the flour and salt. Use your hands to combine all ingredients until a dough begins to form. Gradually add the two teaspoons of olive oil. Knead the dough directly in the large bowl or on a lightly floured surface. Add additional flour (sparingly) as needed if dough becomes too sticky. After 5-7 minutes of kneading, drizzle the tablespoon of olive oil into the large bowl. Coat the dough in the olive oil and let the dough rest in the bowl. Place a sheet of plastic wrap over the bowl. Let the dough rise undisturbed for an hour.
2) After 45 minutes has passed, preheat oven to 425°F.
3) Once the full hour is up, prepare a baking dish by drizzling one tablespoon of olive oil all over the baking dish. Transfer the dough from the bowl over to the baking dish. Drizzle with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Use the tips of your fingers to make indentations all over the dough. Gently press the cut-up rainbow tomatoes into the dough. Sprinkle on the dried oregano and kosher salt. Top with freshly cracked black pepper.
4) Bake for 20-25 minutes until the dough is puffed up and golden brown. Let the focaccia rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Takeaways: Like pizza, you can add pretty much anything you like on focaccia. Focaccia is also a great bread to use when making sandwiches filled with whatever cured meats, veggies, and cheese your heart desires. For me, I like to build breakfast sandwiches using focaccia.
