Fig Focaccia Recipes

MORTADELLA AND FIG FOCACCIANINI

Steps:

• For the fig spread: Bring the figs, 1 cup water, balsamic and sugar to a simmer in a small pot. Simmer until the figs rehydrate and the liquid reduces and thickens, about 15 minutes. Let cool. Once cool, place in a food processor and puree until smooth, 20 to 30 seconds.
• For the sandwich build: Preheat a griddle over medium-low heat or heat a panini press. Slice 1 focaccia square in half. Place a thin layer of the fig spread on the inside of both halves. Place a couple slices of cheese on the bottom, and then place 4 ounces mortadella on top. Close and lightly brush the bread with olive oil. Griddle the sandwich until golden and warm, about 4 minutes a side. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
• Grab daintily with one hand and bite like a maniac.

FOCACCIA

Steps:

• Tip the flour into a large mixing bowl. Mix the yeast into one side of the flour, and the fine salt into the other side. Then mix everything together, this initial seperation prevents the salt from killing the yeast.
• Make a well in the middle of the flour and add 2 tbsp oil and 350-400ml lukewarm water, adding it gradually until you have a slightly sticky dough (you may not need all the water). Sprinkle the work surface with flour and tip the dough onto it, scraping around the sides of the bowl. Knead for 5-10 mins until your dough is soft and less sticky. Put the dough into a clean bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave to prove for 1 hr until doubled in size.
• Oil a rectangle, shallow tin (25 x 35cm). Tip the dough onto the work surface, then stretch it to fill the tin. Cover with a tea towel and leave to prove for another 35-45 mins.
• Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Press your fingers into the dough to make dimples. Mix together 1½ tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp water and the flaky salt and drizzle over the bread. Push sprigs of rosemary into the dimples in the dough.
• Bake for 20 mins until golden. Whilst the bread is still hot, drizzle over 1-2 tbsp olive oil. Cut into squares and serve warm or cold with extra olive oil, if you like.

SWEET FOCACCIA WITH FIGS, PLUMS, AND HAZELNUTS

Steps:

• Make the sponge. Combine yeast and water in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer and stir to dissolve. Whisk in sugar and flour. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until bubbly and doubled in volume, about 45 minutes.
• Make the dough. If using a stand mixer, whisk together yeast and water in a small bowl and let stand until creamy, a few minutes. Add to the sponge in the mixer bowl, along with sugar and olive oil. Add flours (including cornmeal) and salt and mix in with the paddle attachment for 1 to 2 minutes, until ingredients are amalgamated. Change to dough hook and knead on medium speed for 8 to 10 minutes. The dough should come together and slap against the sides of the bowl. It will be slightly tacky. To make the dough by hand, combine yeast and water as directed and whisk into sponge with sugar and olive oil. Whisk in all-purpose flour. Add salt, cornmeal and remaining flour, one cup at a time, folding it in with a spatula or a wooden spoon. When you can scrape out the dough, add flour to the work surface, put dough on top and knead for 8 to 10 minutes, until soft and velvety. Return to bowl (coat bowl lightly with olive oil first).
• Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let dough rise in a warm spot until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Shape the focaccia. Coat a 12-x-17-inch sheet pan (sides and bottom) with olive oil. Line with parchment and flip parchment over so the exposed side is oiled. Turn dough onto baking sheet. Oil or moisten your hands and press out dough until it just about covers the bottom of the pan. Dough may be sticky. Cover with a towel and allow it to relax for 10 minutes, then continue to press it out until it reaches the edges of the pan. Cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm spot for 45 minutes to an hour, or until dough is full of air bubbles.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees after 15 minutes of rising (30 minutes before you wish to bake), preferably with a baking stone in it. Combine chopped rosemary and olive oil for the topping in a small pan and heat just until rosemary begins to sizzle. Count to 30 and remove from heat. Swirl olive oil in the pan and pour into a small measuring cup or ramekin. Allow to cool.
• With lightly oiled fingertips or with your knuckles, dimple the dough, pressing down hard so you leave indentations. Place hazelnut halves in the indentations. Distribute the fruit evenly over the dough and drizzle on the oil and rosemary. Combine the remaining tablespoon of sugar and the cinnamon, and sprinkle evenly over the fruit and dough.
• Place pan in oven on baking stone. Spray oven 3 times with water during the first 10 minutes, and bake 20 to 25 minutes, until edges are crisp and the top is golden. If you wish, remove the focaccia from the pan and bake directly on the stone during the last 10 minutes. Remove from oven, remove from pan at once and cool on a rack. If you want a softer focaccia, cover with a towel when you remove it from the oven. Serve warm or at room temperature.

FIG FOCACCIA WITH GORGONZOLA CHEESE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°F. Roll out dough on work surface to 12x9-inch rectangle. Sprinkle 1/4 cup dried figs over center third of dough. Fold left side of dough over figs. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup dried figs. Fold right side of dough over second layer of figs to cover. Using rolling pin, gently flatten dough to 12x7-inch rectangle; place on baking sheet. Arrange fig slices atop dough. Sprinkle with Gorgonzola cheese, then sugar and ground black pepper. Bake bread until golden brown and cheese melts, about 25 minutes. Serve bread warm.

FIG FOCACCIA

Steps:

• Put the yeast in the large mixing bowl of the mixer and pour 1/4 cup of the warm water over it. Because this is quite a wet dough, it is easier to knead in a standing mixer, but if you do not have one just use a big bowl and mix by hand. Let the yeast stand a few minutes to dissolve, then smear it around with your finger to make sure it is softened. Mix the salt with the rest of the water, and pour it into the bowl along with 2 1/2 cups of the flour. Attach the dough hook, and let it knead the dough for about 2 minutes, adding just a little more flour if it seems very wet (or knead with a light touch by hand for 2 to 3 minutes).
• Lightly flour your work surface, and scrape the dough out of the bowl onto it. Turn the dough over on itself several times, using a dough scraper and your floured hands; don't try to knead vigorously, because the dough is too wet and sticky.
• Clean out the mixing bowl and oil it lightly. Dump the dough in, and turn it to grease all over. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap, and leave the dough to rise until it has more than doubled in volume-about 1 hour, depending on the warmth of your kitchen.
• Select eight plump figs of uniform size, and save them for the topping. Chop the rest roughly into about six pieces per fig, and mix them in with the risen dough, deflating it and distributing them evenly.
• Generously sprinkle cornmeal over an 8-by-12-inch area of the baking sheet. Turn the dough out onto the cornmeal, and smear the remaining oil over the top, spreading it around with your fingers. Now pat and stretch the dough out into an oval shape approximately 8 inches wide and 11 to 12 inches long. Cut the reserved figs in half, stem to bottom, and arrange them at even intervals on top of the dough, cut side up, pressing them in slightly. Sprinkle the sugar all over the top.
• Preheat the oven to 425°. Let the dough rest for 20 minutes while the oven heats, then bake it for 25 minutes. Remove the bread to a rack. It should settle and cool for at least 10 minutes; then serve it warm. It can, of course, be reheated.
• When I bake at home, I don't hesitate to move things around the oven. It's a large professional oven with spots of quite variable heat, and, perhaps because of the massive griddle that sits on top, it retains heat long after the thermostat is lowered. Even if the dial is at 300°, my oven's top heat continues to brown foods like a broiler. These idiosyncrasies are a blessing in a way, because they demand that I pay attention to what is happening in the oven, and they've taught me how to move my dishes up and down on the racks and from the front to the back, to cover and uncover them as needed: to do whatever I need to do to get the dish that I want.
• I have incorporated these practices into many of my recipes, because using your whole oven to control the rates of cooking and browning will help you deal with the peculiarities of your own oven. And, of course, oven thermostats vary so much, just setting the dial for the same temperature does not ensure the same heat.
• The bread-pudding recipe on page 372 is a good example of how you can use the heat zones in your oven-and your racks-to your advantage. In the first step, you set both the heat and the pan of bread high up, so the top heat will quickly caramelize the bread without drying it out. But you set a rack in the middle-and lower the thermostat-to get more bottom heat on the baking dish, and slower cooking, to set the custard in the pudding. Stay flexible, though: you might want to move the pudding higher if the top is not browning as you want it-or you might need to cover it if it's darkening too fast even at a lower temperature setting. And when you are roasting or braising in the oven and there is too much liquid in the pan, just set the pan directly on the floor of the oven, where you get the most intense bottom heat.
• So please don't just let your oven do whatever it wants-there are ways to control it.