FOCACCIA RECIPES | KSRO

FOCACCIA: A BREAD ANYONE CAN MAKE

Focaccia bread is one if not essentially the most well-known of Italian flatbreads. The phrase focaccia (pronounced “foh-KA–cha”) has Latin origin. The interpretation is “baked in coals”.  Many imagine that pizza developed from focaccia and got here later.

There are numerous sorts of focaccia in Italy which range by way of toppings, stuffings, sweetness, and many others. however essentially the most basic and acquainted is the model made in Liguria and its capital Genoa. It’s about 1/2 inch thick, a little bit chewy however nonetheless gentle and spongy inside.  It’s generously coated with additional virgin olive oil and coarse sea salt that helps create the right crust. For these bread geeks on the market, conventional Focaccia Genovese has a 55% hydration ratio.

Focaccia has many variations which is typical of Italy.  Most of us primarily have had expertise to the basic Focaccia Genoese or Fugassa within the Genovese dialect.

Focaccia because it’s recognized immediately dates to at the very least the sixteenth century. Bakers made focaccia early within the morning, earlier than baking first loaves of bread, to check temperature within the wooden fired oven and munch on one thing scorching and filling early within the morning.

Although substances stay principally for all sorts of focaccias: water, flour, yeast, additional virgin olive oil and salt. Just about the identical as these for pizza, there are a few variations price mentioning.  The names change as you progress from one area of Italy to a different.

• In Rome, it’s lighter and a bit taller (simply sufficient to slice in in half and make a sandwich). In Rome it’s known as Pizza Bianca.The perfect and most basic option to take pleasure in it’s reduce in half and make a mortadella sandwich (or mortazza).
• In Tuscany“focaccia” known as schiaccia, which accurately means “pressed” due to its attribute dimples.

There are additionally many other types on the market, much less well-known however nonetheless scrumptious.  One in every of my favorites:

• Schiacciata con l’uva in Tuscany with usually a barely sweetened dough topped with contemporary wine grapes. A recipe follows.

I’ve included 2 comparable recipes for the basic Genovese model.  The primary made the identical day and the second a gradual rise/no knead model.  Each are scrumptious however the gradual rise offers the dough an opportunity to develop extra taste.

Sluggish rise/no knead breads had been made fashionable by Jim Lahey, proprietor of New York’s Sullivan Avenue Bakery, in his ebook My Bread which fully modified bread making in America for house bakers, making bread baking less complicated and fairly foolproof.  His no-knead bread recipe continues to be probably the most fashionable that the New York Occasions ever supplied.

John Burgess Santa Rosa Press Democrat

BASIC FOCACCIA GENOVESE

Makes one 9 x 13 quarter sheet pan

Quarter sheet pans are extensively out there out of your native restaurant provide retailer or on-line.

2 teaspoons energetic dry yeast

1-1/2 cups heat water

1/2 cup fruity olive oil

3-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon kosher salt (use half the quantity if utilizing desk salt)

Non-compulsory toppings:  Thinly sliced pink onions, seeded-slivered tomatoes and or grated cheese

In a big bowl, stir the yeast into the nice and cozy water, let stand roughly 10 minutes.  Stir in 1/4 cup oil, then the flour and salt.  Knead on a frivolously floured floor till clean and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes. Alternately you are able to do this in a stand mixer.

Place the dough in a frivolously oiled bowl, cowl tightly with plastic wrap and let rise till doubled, 1 to 1-1/2 hours.

Place dough in a frivolously oiled parchment lined sheet pan.  Flatten and stretch the dough to cowl as a lot of the underside as doable, then dimple the tops fairly vigorously together with your fingertips to stretch it some extra.  Cowl with a clear towel or plastic wrap and let it chill out 10 minutes.

Dimple and stretch the dough once more to fully cowl the underside.  Let relaxation coated

one other half-hour.

Brush dough with remaining olive oil and bake in a preheated 450-degree oven till it simply begins to show golden, 12 – quarter-hour.  Scatter non-compulsory toppings over and proceed to bake till golden brown, roughly 20 minutes longer.

Be aware: A tablespoon or so of your favourite chopped contemporary herbs might be added to dough.

SLOW RISE/NO KNEAD FOCACCIA

Makes one 9-by-13-inch pan.

I’ve included metric measures right here which, when you have a scale, insures extra constant outcomes.  Skilled bakers will inform you measuring by weight is important.  May be time to purchase a scale should you don’t have one.

3 1/4 cups/415 grams all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon energetic dry yeast

1-3/4 cups/420 milliliters heat water

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for greasing

1 ½ teaspoons coarse sea salt

Complete or chopped contemporary rosemary leaves, contemporary or dried oregano, fennel seeds or different dried herbs, for garnish (non-compulsory)

In a big bowl, whisk collectively the flour, kosher salt and yeast. Add the nice and cozy water to the flour combination and stir till all of the flour is integrated and a sticky dough types. (Count on a really moist dough; no kneading required.) Pour 2 tablespoons oil right into a medium bowl. Switch the dough to the bowl, flip to coat, and canopy tightly with a lid or plastic wrap. Place within the fridge to relaxation for at the very least 24 hours or for as much as 2 days.

If you’re able to bake, brush a 9-by-13-inch parchment lined baking sheet with oil. Take away the dough from the fridge and switch to the ready pan. Utilizing your arms, unfold the dough out as a lot as doable, including oil to the dough if wanted to maintain it from sticking. (Don’t fear if the dough doesn’t but cowl the complete pan; it is going to as soon as it relaxes and rises.) Place the dough in a heat place and let rise till about doubled in bulk. The rising time will range significantly relying on the season. (In the summertime, it might take solely 20 minutes for the dough to heat up and rise; within the winter, it might take 1 hour or extra.) When the dough is prepared, it needs to be room temperature, unfold out on the sheet and fluffy.

Warmth the oven to 450 levels. Utilizing your palms, pat down the focaccia to a good thickness of about 1 inch, then, utilizing your fingertips, dimple your entire dough. Drizzle it with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Sprinkle your entire floor of the focaccia evenly with the ocean salt and herbs, if utilizing.

Bake, rotating as soon as entrance to again, till the highest is uniformly golden brown, 25 to half-hour. Switch the focaccia on the baking sheet to a wire rack to chill, then slide out of the pan. Get pleasure from it heat.

John Burgess Santa Rosa Press Democrat

GRAPE AND ROSEMARY FOCACCIA

Schiacciata con l’uva

Makes one 9 x 13-inch quarter sheet pan

In Tuscany that is usually made at to rejoice the grape harvest.  Grapes with thicker skins are usually used.  This consists of wine grapes which have seeds.  The seeds add an fascinating “chew”. Use seedless grapes should you desire.  That is principally the identical recipe Genovese recipe previous with a number of little twists.   Impressed by a recipe from Giada De Laurentiis.

3 1/4 cups unbleached bread flour

2 cups heat water, at roughly 95 levels

2 teaspoons energetic dry yeast

2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil plus extra for topping

1 cup small wine grapes, washed and patted dry

1 tablespoon roughly chopped contemporary rosemary

1 teaspoon or extra coarse or flakey sea salt, for topping

Powdered sugar garnish, if desired

Add the bread flour, yeast and salt to the bowl of an electrical mixer fitted with a dough hook. Flip the mixer on low velocity for simply 15-20 seconds to evenly distribute the substances. Add the nice and cozy water. Flip the mixer on low velocity for about 5 minutes, ensuring all of the substances are evenly integrated. The dough will likely be very moist, unfastened and sticky. Take away the bowl from the mixer and canopy with plastic wrap or a silicone lid.

Permit the dough to relaxation in a dry, heat place for half-hour. As soon as rested, moist your arms barely to make sure the dough doesn’t stick with your fingers. With one hand, scoop the sting of dough on the farthest aspect from you, and stretch barely to collect it within the center. Rotate the bowl barely and proceed this course of till all edges of the dough have been folded to the middle. Cowl the bowl up once more with the plastic wrap or silicone lid and permit to relaxation for a further half-hour or till doubled in dimension.

Put together a baking sheet by including a sheet of parchment or a silicone mat and brushing with 2 tablespoons of olive oil to evenly coat. Flip the focaccia dough out onto the oiled baking sheet, utilizing a rubber spatula if essential to get all of it out. With oiled arms, gently work the dough and stretch till it nearly covers the entire pan.

Don’t fear if the dough retracts or doesn’t attain the ends of the sheet. Watch out to try to not launch bubbles within the dough throughout this course of. Permit the dough to relaxation in a heat place, uncovered, for one more half-hour. Preheat the oven to 450 levels F.

With oiled fingers, gently stretch the dough to cowl your entire pan. Make indentations within the dough together with your fingers to kind dimples all all through the dough. Distribute the grapes over the focaccia. Sprinkle with the rosemary and the coarse or flakey sea salt. End with a beneficiant drizzle of olive oil all around the dough.

Bake for 35 – 40 minutes, or till the crust is golden brown.  Flippantly mud with powdered sugar should you like and slice into squares to serve.

John Burgess Santa Rosa Press Democrat

Be aware: Focaccia does start to deteriorate in high quality after the primary day or two. If there’s some left over, wrap it in plastic and retailer at room temperature for one more day.  Unwrap and heat in a 325-degree oven for 8 minutes to refresh. Day or older focaccia has plenty of different makes use of so don’t despair should you haven’t eaten all of it shortly after baking. DO NOT throw it away! It’s gold.  Listed here are some concepts:

John Burgess Santa Rosa Press Democrat

Serves 4

This can be a twist on spaghetti aglio e olio, a conventional Italian pasta dish that includes garlic, olive oil, and chile. The breadcrumbs absorb the spicy oil and garlic in a most scrumptious method. Remember to brown the breadcrumbs nicely, or they’ll be soggy within the completed dish. The anchovies are important. They create complexity to the dish and I promise you gained’t make the dish style fishy.

Kosher salt

1/2 cup best-quality extra-virgin olive oil

Pinch crushed pink pepper flakes

4 drained oil-packed anchovy fillets

1-1/2 cups coarse day-old or older focaccia or ciabiatta breadcrumbs*

4 medium cloves garlic, finely sliced

1/4 cup finely chopped contemporary flat-leaf parsley

1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest

3/4-pound dried spaghetti or different lengthy pasta similar to spaghettini, linguine, bucatini

Deliver a big pot of well-salted water to a boil over excessive warmth.

Warmth the oil and pink pepper flakes in a 12-inch skillet over medium-low warmth, stirring often with a wood spatula, till the pepper flakes are scorching, about 3 minutes.

Add the anchovies and mash them with the spatula till they start to dissolve. Elevate the warmth to medium, add the breadcrumbs, and cook dinner, stirring usually, till the crumbs are deep golden, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook dinner, stirring, till the breadcrumbs are crisp and brown, about 1 minute. Take away from the warmth, stir within the parsley, zest and season with salt to style.

Cook dinner the pasta within the boiling water in line with package deal instructions till al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water and drain the pasta. Instantly return the pasta to the pot over medium-low warmth, add half the breadcrumb combination and toss to mix. If essential, add a number of the reserved cooking water to moisten. Season to style with salt.

Serve sprinkled with the remaining breadcrumbs.

*For breadcrumbs tear or chop the stale bread into small items.  Bake in a 350-degree oven for quarter-hour till fully dry. Pulse in a meals processor to create coarse crumbs.  Alternately you possibly can place in a heavy-duty plastic bag and bash with a rolling pin or heavy pot to create the crumbs. They are often as coarse or advantageous as you want.  I desire coarser.

GARLIC CROUTONS

Makes 3 cups

That is my favourite so as to add to soups and to make Caesar and Panzanella salad.  A recipe follows for the latter.

1/3 cup olive oil

3 giant cloves garlic, bruised with the aspect of a knife

3 cups bread cubes reduce in 1-inch cubes from good day-old bread with crusts eliminated

2 tablespoons finely minced parsley

1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest

Salt and freshly floor pepper to style

Add oil and garlic to a sauté pan and sauté garlic over reasonable warmth until it simply begins to paint.  Watch out garlic doesn’t burn or it is going to turn into bitter.  Toss bread cubes with oil and garlic and place on a rack on prime of a rimmed baking sheet.  Toast in a preheated 400-degree oven until bread is properly golden on all sides, 10 – 12 minutes or so.  Croutons needs to be toasty on the floor however nonetheless considerably gentle within the very center.  Take away and toss with parsley, lemon zest and salt and pepper whereas nonetheless heat.  Retailer hermetic if not utilizing instantly.

John Burgess Santa Rosa Press Democrat

PANZANELLA WITH MOZZARELLA

Makes 6 servings

A specialty of Tuscany, make when tomatoes are at their peak.  Barely overripes are excellent right here.  It’s a great make-ahead dish. The longer the combination sits (as much as 6 hours), the higher it tastes.  It takes benefit of the croutons above.

2 kilos very ripe tomatoes, ideally a mixture of varieties and colours

Kosher salt

1/2 cup thinly sliced candy pink onion, about half a small onion

1/2 cup thinly sliced Persian or Kirby cucumber, about 1 small cucumber

1/2 cup torn basil leaves

1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon capers, drained

2 tablespoons pink or sherry wine vinegar, divided and extra to style

1/4 cup additional virgin olive oil

2 small garlic cloves, grated to a paste or finely chopped

1 teaspoon chopped contemporary oregano or thyme (or a mixture)

Pinch pink pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

2 4-ounce balls contemporary mozzarella, drained and pulled aside in chew dimension items

3 cups garlic croutons (see recipe above)

Lower tomatoes into bite-size items and switch to a big bowl. Sprinkle generously with salt and put aside for tomatoes to launch their juices, quarter-hour or so.  Stir in pink onion, cucumber, basil, parsley, capers and 1 tablespoon vinegar.

In a separate bowl whisk collectively olive oil, garlic, oregano, pink pepper, mustard and remaining tablespoon of vinegar till frivolously thickened.  Alter seasoning to your style.

Gently stir into tomato combination together with the croutons and mozzarella.  Let sit for at the very least half-hour earlier than serving.  Toss with a little bit extra olive oil, vinegar, salt and black pepper if wanted simply earlier than serving.

Be aware:  A couple of pitted oil-cured olives and child arugula or frisée would make good additions.

John Ash © 2021 PD

Chef John Ash Educator, Chef, Cookbook Author | Wine Country Cooking