Yes, that is right - I'm sharing with you my Nonna's Focaccia Bread recipe. Yes, this bread does taste as good as the photo looks.
A fun fact about myself is that I am extremely passionate and curious about my culture based around my nationality. That being said, I really value that I am able to learn from Nonna all her recipes and she can pass them down to me.
These are once again, totally customizable and here are a few flavors I make for the toppings:
Tomato, Basil, Parmesan Cheese, Oregano, Salt, Pepper, Garlic
Spinach & Feta, Oregano, Salt, Pepper, and Oregano
Plain - Aka Oregano, Garlic, Basil, Salt & Pepper
Fried Onion - Basically just fry up and caramelize some onions
Sliced Zucchini - Thinly slice some zucchinis
Roasted Red Pepper
Olive
Pesto
Sauce & cheese
Even an array of different sliced vegetables to make a focaccia art scene.
Recipe:
Yields: 4 Full Size Sheet Pans of Bread (if you do not own this many pans then divide the recipe in half)
Serves: MANY People
Ingredients:
Dough
(2) packets of Active Dry Yeast (Red Star Brand) / if you loose yeast 1 bag is 2.5 tsp.
1 Tbsp White Sugar
Water (Warm)
5 lb bag of white flour (King Arthur or Double 0)
1 1/4 Tbsp of white salt
1/2 cup of canola oil / vegetable oil
Toppings
Very high quality extra virgin olive oil - the more the better
Very high quality parmesan cheese - the more the better
Again any herbs, spices, and toppings of choice.
Steps:
In a mug, add 2 packets of active dry yeast of choice (I use Red Star brand)
Add 1 spoon of white sugar, and then fill ½ way in the mug with warm water, stir with the spoon and set aside until the yeast blooms (you will know when it raises inside the mug)
In a tub/basin (I use a laundry basin/plastic wash tub), dump a 5 lb bag of white flour. I recommend King Arthur or Double 0 type flour. Add in 1 ¼ Tbsp of white salt, mix with your hands to combine. Create a well in the middle.
Once the yeast has risen, dump into the flour well. Add additional warm water until wet. Add ½ cup of canola oil.
Knead the dough and continue to add warm water, and until the dough is sticky! This can take a lot of time and a lot of water since you want it to be sticky, wet/moist, along with springy. Depending on time of year weather wise/temp wise this can be very different each time as well.
Tip! If your hands are getting messy/too sticky with dough, you can add a little bit of canola oil to your hands, and this assists with shaping/kneading the dough.
Once the dough is ready, cover your hands in canola oil and rub the dough mound that you shape into a dough ball. The outside of the dough ball should be rubbed with your oil covered hands.
Put the entire dough basin inside of a garbage bag, and close it up, setting to raise. This can take anywhere from 30 min - 2+ hours. The rule of thumb is wait until the dough doubles in size. Also, cover the garbage bag with a blanket to preserve warmth and also assist the proofing process.
In a pan (you need atleast 3-4 pans if you use the 5 lb bag of flour) (you can use a cookie sheet too, it just needs to be a baking sheet that is not glass, I recommend aluminum, non-stick pan). Rub a stick of butter against the pan.
Add in a generous amount of dough and spread out to all the sides and corners. You want this to be a thin layer of dough since it will proof again before going into the oven.
Set the oven to 375-400 degree Fahrenheit (depends on your oven)
Next...assemble the pizzas!
You can do any toppings here from sauce, plain, anything really.
Tomato Basil: In a bowl, I mixe thinly sliced tomatoes, minced garlic, fresh basil, oregano, salt/pepper, and good quality extra virgin olive oil. Mix to combine
Plain: I mixed salt/pepper, fresh basil, and oregano.
Pesto: You can 100% make your own fresh pesto (pine nuts, good olive oil, basil, other herbs of choice, parmesan cheese..in a food processor)...or you can always use jarred as well which tastes just as good sometimes/saves time.
Other flavors: olives! Roasted red pepper! spinach/feta! Sliced zucchini! And even caramelized onions! If you want to be fancy….you can make focaccia art with vegetables to make a pretty scene on top and be the talk of any dinner party/potluck!
Taking your pan of dough, with your hands create “dimples” all around the dough. To do this, just take your fingers and push down (but not too hard). Then, drizzle very generously extra virgin olive oil more is better!
Then, sprinkle your toppings of choice the the pizza. I personally enjoy adding parmesan cheese on top of any topping I choose, and then again, more extra virgin olive oil!
The pizza is ready for the oven! Depending on the pizza thickness this can take around 30+ minutes.
Once the pizza is done, and cooled off, you HAVE to store within a sealed garbage bag the pan to lock in the moisture. If not your pizzas/bread will turn stale - and we dont want that to happen.
***If you see your pizza is starting to loose moisture...its still delicious. My recommendation is to eat it with something oily such as roasted red peppers, make a bread oil of choice, or even just make it into a sandwich!
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