Cherry tomato & rosemary focaccia
Focaccia is a flat oven-baked Italian bread whose preparation is very similar in style and texture to pizza doughs. Focaccia is often topped with herbs or other vegetables (olives and onions are classic toppings). Compared to pizza, focaccia is extra soft, due to the fact that olive oil is added to the dough and brushed on its surface. Therefore, focaccia is perfect for sandwich-style filling. You can get very creative…
Also, you can make focaccia in any shapes… you can use large oven trays, pizza trays, or even split the dough into smaller balls and prepare focaccini (small focaccia buns).
Cherry tomato & rosemary is one of my favorites: simple to prepare and deliciously scented. For this batch, I halved the dough and prepare a small focaccia and some focaccini. If you leave it whole, these quantities will make a large focaccia. However, focaccini are fun (they look like a smiley face) and they are perfect for office lunches.
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 teaspoon sugar (or a sugar cube)
- Pinch of garlic salt
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 1 bag pizza yeast
- 1/3 cup olive oil, plus additional oil for brushing and drizzling
- 2 teaspoons rosemary
Preparation
Pre-heat the oven at 100 degrees for 5 minutes, then turn it off. Pour the flour into a large bowl. Add the garlic salt and the olive oil. Put sugar and yeast in a glass, add a little warm water and stir well. Add it to the flour in the bowl and mix well with the help of a wooden spoon. Pour a little flour on your hands (to prevent the dough to stick to your hands) and knead for a couple of minutes, until the dough is soft and smooth. Sprinkle the bottom of the bowl with a little olive oil, cover with a kitchen cloth and put it in the oven (leave it off) for 15 minutes.
While the dough is resting in the oven, rinse the cherry tomatoes and halve them. Transfer them to a small bowl, sprinkle with garlic salt and drizzle with olive oil. Add some rosemary and mix well. Set them aside to marinate.
After 15 minutes, take the dough out of the oven. If you’re making focaccini, this is the time to halve the dough: transfer one half in the baking tin and transfer one half to an oiled baking tray. For both, push your fingers into the dough, leaving holes on its surface. Drizzle with oil and put again into the oven (leave it off). Let the dough rest for further 15 minutes.
Finally, take both doughs from the oven. Push the cherry tomatoes into the dough in the baking tin (cut part down) and sprinkle with rosemary. For the focaccini, take the other half of the dough and split it into small balls by hand. Lay them on the oiled baking tray and push the cherry tomatoes into each of them. You can get creative, depending on the size of the balls.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Set aside to settle for at least 15 minutes before serving.
You can enjoy focaccia and focaccini as is, buttered, or stuff them with lettuce, non-meat slices, and cheese.
Bon appetit!
