Grape Tomato And Oregano Focaccia Recipes

GRAPE TOMATO AND OREGANO FOCACCIA

Steps:

• In large bowl, stir yeast, sugar and 1/4 cup of the water until blended. Let stand 10 minutes or until yeast is dissolved and foamy. Add remaining 2/3 cup water, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon oregano. Stir in 2 1/2 cups of the flour, slowly adding additional flour as necessary to make dough easy to handle.
• Place dough on lightly floured surface. Knead 10 minutes or until dough is smooth and springy. Grease large bowl with oil. Place dough in bowl, turning dough to grease all sides. Cover bowl loosely with plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray; let rise in warm place 45 minutes to 1 hour or until doubled in size. Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched.
• Meanwhile, about 20 minutes before baking, place pizza stone or cookie sheet on oven rack. Heat oven to 425°F. Line cookie sheet with cooking parchment paper. Gently push fist into dough to deflate. On lightly oiled surface, pat dough to 14x9-inch oval. Place on paper-lined cookie sheet. Cover loosely with plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray; let rise 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in small bowl, mix 1 tablespoon oil and garlic. With fingertips, gently make 1/2-inch-deep depressions about 2 inches apart in dough. Brush with garlic-oil mixture; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon oregano. Sprinkle cheese over dough; top with tomatoes. Gently press tomatoes into dough. Sprinkle with sea salt. Slide dough and parchment paper from cookie sheet onto pizza stone.
• Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown and crisp. Cool on cooling rack, about 20 minutes. Serve warm or cool.

TOMATO FOCACCIA

Steps:

• Generously cover potato with salted cold water (1 teaspoon salt for 3 cups water) in a small heavy saucepan and simmer, uncovered, until just tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain and cool slightly, then mash until smooth.
• Stir together warm water and sugar in bowl of mixer. Sprinkle yeast over mixture and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn't foam, start over with new yeast.)
• Add potato and 1/4 cup oil to yeast and beat with paddle attachment at medium speed until combined, about 2 minutes. Remove paddle attachment and attach dough hook, then beat in 4 cups flour and 1 tablespoon sea salt at medium-high speed until combined well, about 3 minutes. (Dough will be very soft and sticky.)
• Transfer to a well-floured surface and knead in remaining 1/4 cup flour with lightly floured hands until smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes. (Dough will still be very soft and sticky.)
• Scrape dough into a lightly oiled large bowl and cover bowl with oiled plastic wrap. Let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled, 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Generously oil a 15- by 10- by 1-inch baking pan.
• Punch down dough (do not knead) and transfer to baking pan, then gently stretch to cover as much of bottom as possible (dough may not fit exactly).
• Cover dough with oiled plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 425°F with rack in lower third.
• Arrange tomatoes on focaccia (do not overlap), then sprinkle with oregano and remaining 1/4 teaspoon sea salt and drizzle with remaining 1/4 cup oil.
• Bake until center is firm, top is pale golden, and underside is golden (lift to check), 20 to 25 minutes.
• Loosen focaccia from pan with a spatula and slide onto a rack to cool slightly. Cut into pieces and serve warm or at room temperature.

NO-KNEAD TOMATO FOCACCIA

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, yeast, sugar, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 tablespoon thyme. Add cold water and 1/3 cup oil. Stir with a wooden spoon or your hands until a wet dough forms and no dry flour remains. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until dough quadruples in volume and top appears bubbly, at least 12 hours and up to 18 hours.
• Pour 1/3 cup oil onto a 12-by-18-inch rimmed baking sheet. Lightly coat your hands with oil on sheet, and scrape dough onto center of sheet. Turn dough to evenly coat with oil, then press to spread in an even thickness to edges of pan. Use your fingers to make dimple-like indentations all over dough. Cover and let rise at room temperature until doubled in volume (dough should reach top of sheet rim), about 1 1/2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 500 degrees with rack in lower third. In a bowl, toss tomatoes with garlic, red-pepper flakes, and remaining 1 tablespoon oil, 2 teaspoons thyme, and 1 teaspoon salt. Sprinkle evenly over dough; drizzle with any accumulated juices from bowl.
• Bake until puffed slightly and golden brown on top, 16 to 18 minutes (if top is browning too quickly,tent with foil). Let focaccia cool in pan on a wire rack until warm but no longer hot, about 20 minutes. Serve warm or room-temperature, or let cool completely and store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days.

ONION-TOMATO FOCACCIA

Steps:

• To make the dough, dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup warm water and let it sit for several minutes, until it begins to bubble. Put the flour and salt in the food-processor bowl.
• Stir together the active yeast and 2 cups lukewarm water in a spouted measuring cup. With the processor running continuously, blend the flour and salt briefly, then pour in all the liquid through the feed tube and process for about 30 seconds. A soft, moist dough should gather on the blade, with some sticking to the sides of the bowl. If it's very sticky and hasn't come off the sides at all, incorporate more flour, a tablespoon or two at a time, to stiffen the dough and bring it together. If the dough is dry, process in more water in small amounts.
• Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface, scraping the bowl and blade clean. Knead by hand for a minute, using as little flour as possible, until the dough forms a smooth round, still soft and a bit sticky. Coat a big bowl with the tablespoon of olive oil, drop in the dough, and turn it to oil it all over. Seal the bowl with plastic wrap, and let it rise in a warm place until doubled, about an hour.
• While the dough is rising, toss together the sliced onion, cherry-tomato halves, 4 tablespoons of the olive oil, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a small bowl, and let them marinate.
• Coat the baking dish or pan, bottom and sides, with 2 tablespoons or more olive oil. Deflate the risen dough, and lay it in the pan. Gently press and stretch it into an evenly flat round that fills the pan. If the dough is resistant, let it relax for a few minutes.
• Lift the marinated onion and tomatoes out of the bowl with a slotted spoon, draining off the juices. Scatter the vegetables all over the focaccia, and lightly press in with your fingertips, creating dimples in the soft dough. Finally, drizzle the marinating oil over the top.
• Let the focaccia rise, uncovered, for about 20 minutes. Set a baking stone, if you have one, on a center oven rack and heat to 425˚. Just before baking, gently dimple the dough again with your fingertips, and sprinkle another 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt all over.
• Bake the focaccia for about 20 minutes, rotate the pan back to front for even cooking, and bake another 10 to 15 minutes, or even longer, until the bread is golden brown and the onion and tomatoes are nicely caramelized.
• Remove the pan and top with remaining olive oil and crumbled oregano. Let the focaccia cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing. Serve it warm or at room temperature.