0 Tomato focaccia

We love focaccia of all types and being lucky enough to have picked a large bowl of cherry tomatoes from the garden, we decided to use some of our bounty in a lovely fresh focaccia. Focaccia is a great bread to make and share with friends, especially if you have some great oil and vinegar to serve with it. Serve on a platter fresh from the oven Italian stylee, another bonus of this recipe is that you can use handfuls of fresh herbs just picked from the garden, I love this time of year when the garden is bountiful !

What you need

• 20g dried yeast
• 2 tsp sugar dissolved in warm water - 300ml
• 450g strong white bread flour (organic if you can get hold of it)
• Fresh thyme - picked and roughly chopped - 1tbsp
• Fresh rosemary - picked and roughly chopped - 1tbsp
• 1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• 4 good tbsp extra virgin olive oil - the best you can afford it does make a difference
• cherry tomatoes - halved if large
• Extra virgin olive oil - for sprinkling
• Sea salt - proper crystal flakes for a great finish

What you do

• Mix the yeast into the sugared warm water, leave to one side until the yeast is frothy, you are now ready to bake
• Place the flour, herbs and salt into a large bowl, ensure the salt is well distributed throughout 
• Make a well in the centre and mix in half of the yeast mixture, mix with your fingers , keep adding liquid and mixing, now add the olive oil, still mixing and semi kneading until you have a soft slightly sticky dough.(Depending on your flour and the weather will depend on whether you need all the liquid)
• Lightly flour the work surface and knead the dough for 10 minutes until you have a soft elastic dough.
• Put the dough in lightly oiled bowl and cover to rise until doubled in size, in a warm kitchen this will take approximately an hour.
• Meanwhile oil your baking tray or roasting dish with a little olive oil, remove dough from bowl and place in roasting dish, squishing with your fingers to one level and to the edges and corners of the pan.
• Cover the pan with a large plastic bag or clingfilm which you have lightly oiled to prevent the dough from sticking to it when rising.
• Let this prove for about 30 minutes
• Pre heat the oven to 190c 
• When ready to bake, press the your fingers all over the dough to make little dinks in the dough for the tomato pieces, once you have used all the tomatoes, sprinkle with a little more olive oil and some sea salt flakes.
• Bake for approx 30 minutes or so until golden and well risen
• Delicious hot or cold, once baked and cooled it also freezes well, double wrapped in foil

The fabulous photography is once again by the talented Mr Lancashire Food 

Detail: Tomato focaccia

0 Mushroom, onion and thyme focaccia

Another baking adventure from Mr Lancashire Food, this time a twist on the Italian delight - focaccia. We love mushrooms in our household and decided that we would experiment by adding cooked mushrooms and onions to a traditional focaccia mix.

The resultant focaccia was absolutely delicious, it was fortuitous that we made two slabs of this crusty delight, as the first one disappeared within minutes. We used large open capped mushrooms but you could use button or if feeling especially decadent wild mushrooms instead, if you are using dried mushrooms you will need to reconstitute them first before cooking.

As with all bread baking the secret is time, allowing your dough to rise fully and prove, this time creates the  flavour in the dough.

Ingredients

• 500g strong white bread flour
• 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 7g dried yeast
• 70ml olive oil
• Warm water to mix - hard to be precise as this all depends on your flour
• Roughly 100g of mushrooms ( whatever type) - chopped finely
• 1 large white onion - chopped into fine half rings
• Thyme ( fresh or dried)
• Salt and olive oil for sprinkling 
• Little oil or butter to cook your mushrooms and onions in

Baking tray or shallow baking pan 

Method

• Firstly cook the onions and mushrooms in a little oil or butter until softened but with hardly any colour, allow to cool, stir in your thyme.
• Now mix the flour, sea salt, yeast and liquids to a  make a soft sticky dough, add the water last and mix by hand so you can judge the consistency of the dough
• Once combined knead well on lightly floured surface, until the dough is pliable and stretchy
• Place in a bowl and allow to rest  in a warm place for at least an hour or so until your dough has doubled in size
• Add the Mushroom, onion and thyme mixture to the dough pressing in with your hands
• Now place your dough on your baking sheet / pan and shape by pressing out with your fingers to cover the tin to the edges, allow to prove for approx 30 minutes covered with a tea towel
• Now using your fingers prick all over the surface of your focaccia to make dimples, sprinkle with olive oil and sea salt crystals, leave to prove again for another hour or so
• Bake in a preheated oven at 200c for approximately 25 -35 minutes until golden brown

Delicious served with Italian salami, cold meats, olives or oil and vinegar.

I am entering this post in "Herbs on Saturday" blog  challenge for January 2013 challenge from Lavender and Lovage and this  month hosted by Bangers and Mash.

                                                           

Detail: Mushroom, onion and thyme focaccia