Filled Focaccia With Ham And Melted Fontina Recipes

FILLED FOCACCIA WITH HAM AND MELTED FONTINA

Steps:

• Pop the ingredients for the dough into a bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Set to dough and start.
• Towards the end of the time, prepare the filling by slicing the cheese thinly and separating the slices of ham.
• When the dough is ready, remove from the machine, turn it out onto a lightly foured surface, divide it into two and then roll out one half to form a rough rounded rectangle approx 28 x 20cm.
• Place the rolled out dough onto a baking tray or pizza stone and arrange the slices of ham on top, making sure that they go right up the edges. Follow this with the cheese, then scatter the sage and season well with the pepper. Roll out the remaining dough, lay it on the top of the other half and pinch the edges together to completely enclose the filling. Cover with a clean cloth and leave to puff up for about 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to Gas 6/400/200 degrees. When the dough is ready, make about 15 little dimples in it with your finger and press in the sprigs of rosemary. Finally drizzle over the olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the dough is crisp and golden.
• Serve straight from the oven, cut into wedges or squares.

HAM AND FONTINA FRITTATA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Trim any connective tissue and all fat off ham steak. Mince the meat into very small bits and set aside.
• Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet with oven safe handle over moderate heat. Add oil and 1 tablespoon butter to the skillet and coat sides and bottom of pan evenly with melted butter and oil mixture. Add ham bits to the pan and saute 3 minutes to brown them a bit and render some of the moisture in the meat.
• Whisk together eggs and milk or half-and-half. Break off tiny pieces of remaining 1 tablespoon butter and drop them into beaten eggs. Season eggs with a little salt and pepper and whisk again to combine. Pour eggs into skillet over ham. Stir eggs gently to evenly distribute bits of ham throughout the eggs.
• As eggs set, lift up bottom skin that has formed and allow uncooked eggs to settle. Keep doing this as eggs brown until the eggs begin to set. Transfer the pan to the oven, and allow the frittata to cook 10 minutes, or until golden on top. Add a generous layer of shredded fontina to the frittata and leave in oven another 3 to 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted and begins to bubble and brown. Serve frittata wedges directly from the skillet with a pie server.

SAGE FONTINA FOCACCIA

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in honey; let stand for 5 minutes. Add 3/4 cup all- purpose flour, whole wheat flour, oil, minced sage and salt. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes or until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky)., Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour., Punch dough down. Cover and let rest for 5 minutes. Place 1 tablespoon olive oil in a 10-in. cast-iron or other ovenproof skillet; tilt pan to evenly coat. Add dough; shape to fit pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. , With fingertips, make several dimples over top of dough. For topping, brush dough with 1 teaspoon oil. Top with sage leaves; brush leaves with remaining oil. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 400° until golden brown, 10-15 minutes. Remove to a wire rack. Serve warm.,

WHOLE WHEAT FOCACCIA WITH TOMATOES AND FONTINA

Steps:

• Make the sponge. Combine the yeast and water in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer and stir to dissolve. Whisk in the 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 the yeast and the water in a small bowl and let stand until creamy, a few minutes. Add to the sponge in the mixer bowl, along with the olive oil. Add the flours and salt and mix with the paddle attachment for 1 to 2 minutes, until the ingredients are amalgamated. Change to the dough hook and knead on medium speed for 8 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 the sponge along with the olive oil. Whisk in the all-purpose flour. Add the salt and remaining flour, one cup at a time, folding it in with a spatula or a wooden spoon. When you can scrape the dough onto a work surface, add flour to the work surface, scrape out the dough and knead for 8 to 10 minutes, until soft and velvety. Return to the bowl (oil the bowl lightly with olive oil first).
• Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let dough rise in a warm spot until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Shape the focaccia. Oil a 12-x 17-inch sheet pan (sides and bottom) with olive oil. Line with parchment and oil the parchment. Turn the dough onto the 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 let it 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 30 minutes of rising (30 minutes before you wish to bake), preferably with a baking stone in it. With lightly oiled fingertips or with your knuckles, dimple the dough, pressing down hard enough to leave indentations. Drizzle on the olive oil for the topping and arrange cheese over the surface. Top cheese with the sliced tomatoes and sprinkle tomatoes with coarse sea salt if desired.
• Place pan in oven on baking stone. Spray oven 3 times with water during the first 10 minutes of baking, 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 of baking. Remove from oven and from pan and cool on a rack. Sprinkle basil over the top. If you want a softer focaccia, cover with a towel when you remove it from the oven. Serve warm or at room temperature.

HAM AND FONTINA SANDWICH

Steps:

• Spread 1 teaspoon mustard on one side of each slice of bread. Top one of the slices with watercress, cheese, and ham. Top with remaining slice of bread, mustard side down, to form a sandwich.

FONTINA HAM STROMBOLI

Steps:

• In a large skillet, saute onion in oil until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Cool completely., On two greased baking sheets, roll each loaf of dough into a 16-in. x 10-in. rectangle. Spread each with 2 tablespoons pesto; sprinkle with onion mixture and basil. Arrange the ham, prosciutto and fontina cheese over each rectangle to within 1/2 in. of edges., Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; pinch seams to seal and tuck ends under., Brush with remaining pesto and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes before slicing.