Sage Focaccia Recipes

THANKSGIVING STUFFING FOCACCIA

Steps:

• For the dough: Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat until foaming but not brown. Add the celery and onion and cook, stirring often, until softened but not brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Sprinkle with the sage, bouillon cubes and 1 teaspoon pepper and stir in 1/4 cup water. Cook, stirring often, until the bouillon is dissolved and has coated all the vegetables and the water has evaporated, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate and let cool to room temperature.
• Meanwhile, whisk the flour, yeast and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the dough hook on low speed, stir in the warm water and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, mixing until the flour is completely moistened. Let stand 5 minutes.
• Add 2 tablespoons kosher salt and knead on medium speed for 5 minutes. (The dough will tighten up, then begin to relax. After 5 minutes, it will be very wet and stick to the bottom of the mixer but not the sides.) With the mixer on low, add the cooled vegetables and the parsley.
• Rub 2 tablespoons olive oil around the bottom and sides of a large mixing bowl (big enough to hold at least double the volume of the dough). Using a scraper or spatula, transfer the dough to the bowl, flipping once to coat completely with oil. Cover with a plate and let sit until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
• Meanwhile, heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a medium pan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the sausage and cook, breaking it up with the back of a spoon, until golden and crisp, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate and let cool to room temperature.
• Pour the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil into the bottom of an 18-by-13-inch rimmed baking sheet. Use your hands to evenly distribute the oil along the bottom and up the sides. Scrape the dough into the baking sheet, flattening it slightly with your hands. Flip the dough once and gently stretch it to fit into an even layer in the baking sheet. (The dough may not stretch to the edges at this point. If it starts to pull back, let rest 10 minutes and re-stretch, making sure to pull from the center as well as the edges to get an even thickness.) Top evenly with the sausage and use your fingertips to make dimples over the surface of the focaccia, pressing firmly but not so hard you make holes in the dough.
• For the brine and finish: Dissolve 1 teaspoon kosher salt in 1/4 cup warm water. Drizzle over the surface of the focaccia, letting it pool in the dimples. Cover with an inverted baking sheet or cover loosely with plastic wrap that has been lightly sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Let sit in a warm place for 45 minutes to relax and rise again.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• Uncover the dough and sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Bake, rotating the baking sheet once halfway through, until the focaccia is deep golden brown on the top and bottom, 30 to 35 minutes. Drizzle with the olive oil and let sit for 5 minutes. Use a spatula to remove the focaccia to a wire rack to cool completely.

FOCACCIA WITH SAGE

Steps:

• FOR SPONGE:
• Place 1/2 cup water in large bowl. Stir in yeast. Let stand until yeast dissolves and mixture is cloudy, about 10 minutes. Stir in flour. Cover with plastic. Let stand until very bubbly, about 45 minutes or less
• FOR FOCACCIA:
• Place 1 cup water in small bowl. Stir in yeast. Let stand until yeast dissolves and mixture is cloudy, about 10 minutes. Stir dissolved yeast mixture and 1/4 cup olive oil into sponge in large bowl. Stir in 1 cup flour. Stir in 2 tablespoons chopped sage and 2 teaspoons salt. Add remaining flour in 2 batches, mixing until well blended after each addition. Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead dough until soft and velvety, about 10 minutes.
• Oil large bowl. Add dough, turning to coat with oil. Cover with plastic. Let dough rise in warm area until doubled, about 1 hour 15 minutes.
• Oil 11x17-inch baking sheet. Punch down dough. Transfer to prepared sheet. Using oiled hands, press out dough to cover bottom of pan. Cover dough with kitchen towel. Let stand 10 minutes (dough will shrink).
• Press out dough again to cover pan. Cover with towel. Let rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, position rack in center of oven. Place baking stone on rack and preheat oven to 425°F. (Baking stones are available at cookware stores. Unglazed quarry tiles, available at tile stores and some building supply stores, can also be used. If unavailable, heat another baking sheet in oven 10 minutes).
• Using fingertips, press dough all over, creating dimples. Drizzle dough with 2 tablespoons oil. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sage and 1 teaspoon salt.
• Place pan directly on pizza stone. Spray oven with water from spray bottle. Bake until focaccia is golden and top is crisp, spraying oven with water twice more during first 10 minutes, about 25 minutes total. Transfer bread to rack. Cool slightly. Serve bread warm or at room temperature.

RED ONION & SAGE FOCACCIA (BREAD MACHINE)

Steps:

• Pour the water and oil into the bread pan.
• Reverse the order in which you add the wet and dry ingredients if necessary.
• Sprinkle the flour over, ensuring that it covers the liquid.
• Add the salt and sugar in separate corners.
• Make a shallow indentation in the flour and add the yeast.
• Set the bread machine to the dough setting.
• If our machine has a choice of settings, use the basic or pizza dough setting.
• Press Start.
• Lightly oil a 10-11 inch shallow round cake pan or pizza pan.
• When the cycle has finished, remove the dough from the pan and place it on a surface lightly dusted with flour.
• Punch the dough down and flatten it slightly.
• Sprinkle over the sage and red onion and knead it gently to incorporate.
• Shape the dough into a ball, flatten it, then roll it into a round of about 10-11 inches.
• Place in the prepared pan.
• Cover with oiled plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400°F Uncover the risen focaccia, and using your fingertips, poke the dough to make deep dimples over the surface.
• Cover and let rise for 10-15 minutes, or until the dough has doubled in bulk.
• Drizzle the olive oil over and sprinkle with the onion, sage leaves, sea salt and black pepper.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden.
• Turn out onto a wire rack to cool slightly.
• Serve warm.