Monday, January 31, 2011

No-Knead Tomato Focaccia

Before I get started on the focaccia recipe post, I would like to send out a special thank you to my blogging friend, Susie Ridler from Susie the Foodie blog, who introduced me to the whole "tagging" concept. Unable to post her own tutorial in time, Susie kindly redirected her loyal readers to my post. Known for her openness and her supportive assistance, Susie's generous gesture resulted in an influx of new traffic to my  no-knead bread post. As promised, Susie did  post her full recipe tutorial today. I do hope you get a chance to visit her wonderful blog at http://suziethefoodie.blogspot.com/
Realizing I had small cherry tomatoes nearing their end but still edible, my plain rosemary and garlic no-knead focaccia was about to get a make-over. The topping is as easy as making a salad, and just as refreshing. 
Using the same no-knead bread recipe, and by just adding 3 tablespoons of light virgin olive oil to the basic recipe will give you a tasty and airy dough.
 
Ingredients:

Dough:
3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons light virgin oil

Tomato topping:
 2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half  and juice squeezed out
1 garlic clove finely minced
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin oil
2 tablespoons grated parmigiano reggiano 
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 -3/4 cup smoked mozzarella,diced
salt
pepper


METHOD 

DOUGH:
The night before:
In a mixing bowl add the flour, the yeast and the salt. Using your hands or a wooden spoon, blend the dry ingredients.



Pour in 1 1/2 cup of water, 3 tablespoons of light virgin oil, and mix. Pull together the dough using your hands or a wooden spoon. 




Scrape any excess flour from the bottom and sides of the bowl, making sure the ingredients are well incorporated and form into a ball.  The dough will have a stringy texture.



Place a piece of plastic wrap on the bowl to avoid the dough from drying out. Allow to rise in a warm dry, and draft free place for at least 12 hours and up to 24 hours. The photo to the right is dough that has risen overnight.

The next day: 
Transfer the dough to a greased and floured 12 " pizza tray. Dust the dough  lightly with flour, and with your hands spread out to the edges of your pizza pan, forming a disk. Drizzle with oil and season with salt.  Sprinkle fresh or dried rosemary on the top.  Place in a draft free place to allow to rise a second time for 1-2 hours
.

Topping:
While the dough is rising, prepare the topping by adding the prepared tomatoes in a bowl and tossing in the olive oil, parmigiano reggiano, the smoked  mozzarella, the minced garlic, oregano and seasoning with salt and pepper.
Once the dough has risen a second time spread  the tomato cheese topping gently on the focaccia dough.



Bake in a pre-heated 500º F oven for 15-20 minutes.




Do leave me a comment, I would love hearing from you.

8 comments:

  1. Oh man! Now I have to try this, looks so freakin' delicious Anna and I know just how fabulous that bread is. Interesting you add olive oil to it, that makes sense for focaccia. Divine Anna and thanks so much for linking back to me, I knew you could do it! :)

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  2. This is now on my list. your blog is adding a lot of "must do" recipes to my file and I am so happy about it - just warming.

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  3. Anna-I am drooling over your focaccia...such a beauty...so light, fluffy, and with the goodness of the fresh little cherry tomatoes. Saving the recipe, to try out...love it, love it!

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  4. That is one gorgeous focaccia...I just love the melted cheese and freshness of the bread :) Gorgeous photos too!

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  5. Susie,
    I can't thank you enough for your support.The response has been amazing. I've had nothing but wonderful feedback regarding the no-knead bread recipe following your link to my post. You're the best!

    Claudia,
    You really have to give this a try. It does take some planning as the dough needs to rise overnight, but it's easy as pie after that. Let me know how it turns out.

    Elisabeth,
    What a sweet comment, thanks so much! I think this is one of the best focaccia recipes. The high heat not only made the dough rise beautifully but also gave a lovely caramelized flavour to the tomatoes. They tasted just like sun-dried tomatoes.

    Alisha,
    Thanks so much. I used smoked mozzarella on the focaccia. A small amount really went a long way.

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  6. This looks so good! I am a real sucker for bread, especially homemade! Can't wait to try this out! I found you by following the link from Sweets for a Saturday at Sweet as a Sugar Cookie.

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  7. Wow! I tried this last week and it was awesome - thanks so much for posting!! It takes a while from start to finish, but 99% of the time requires absolutely no effort; all I needed to do was plan the mixing around times I'd be home. I can already tell this focaccia is going to become part of a weekly dinner. My husband loved it, and my 15 month old baby said "mmm..." and munched it up.

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  8. This looks DELISH. I have the plain version baking right now and I can't wait to try this!

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