Rustic Focaccia with Tomatoes, Onions and Olives
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
A favorite Italian flat bred from Northern Italy
Author:
Recipe type: Bread
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
  • 1¾ cups warm water
  • 1 package active dry yeast
  • 1 TBSP. sugar
  • 5 cups flour for pizza or bread flour
  • 1 TBSP. sea salt
  • 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • --- ---- coarse sea salt for sprinkling
  • --- --- olive oil for the vegetables
  • 2 large red onions, sliced
  • 3 cups grape tomatoes, cut in half
  • --- ---- fresh herbs (rosemary and/or thyme)
  • 1 cup Kalamata olives, pitted & chopped in quarters
  • --- --- more olive oil to drizzle on top
Instructions
  1. In a 2-cup measuring cup, combine the warm water, yeast and sugar. Set aside in a warm place away from drafts until the yeast is forming small bubbles, about 15 minutes.
  2. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the flour, 1 TBSP sea salt, ½ cup olive oil and the yeast mixture on low speed. Once the dough has come together, continue to knead for 3 more minutes on medium speed until the dough becomes smooth and soft. If the dough feels sticky or tacky, sprinkle it with some more flour.
  3. Transfer the dough to a clean, lightly floured surface and knead it by hand for a few minutes, adding more flour if necessary.
  4. Coat the inside of the mixing bowl lightly with olive oil and return the dough to the bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap and put it in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size, at least 1 hour.
  5. Coat two sheet pans (13” x 9” x 1” jelly roll pans) with the remaining ½ cup olive oil.
  6. Place the dough onto the pans and begin pressing it out (with the tips of your fingers) to fit the size of the pans. Turn the dough over to coat the other side with the olive oil. Continue to stretch the dough to fit the pans. As you are doing so, spread your fingers out and make small dimples all the way through the dough (but on the boarder). Put the dough in a warm place until it has doubled in size, about 1 hour. While the dough is rising a second time, preheat the oven to 425 °F and prepare the topping.
  7. In a large skillet, caramelize the sliced onions by slowly cooking them, uncovered, in some olive oil with a sprinkle of salt, until they are lightly browned, stirring occasionally (but not too often). Add the tomatoes and cook briefly. Turn off the heat and add the fresh herbs and Kalamata olives (or, any favorite olives). Set aside.
  8. Liberally sprinkle the top of the focaccia with some coarse sea salt and lightly drizzle some olive oil on top. Bake the foccacie for about 10 minutes and then spread the caramelized onions, tomatoes, fresh herbs and olives mixture over the two pans. Bake them for another 15 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Remove the pans from the oven and let them cool slightly before cutting and serving.
Notes
You can easily scale down the recipe to make only one pan. You can also save half of the dough to use later in the week or put in the freezer for another time.
Recipe by Marilena's Kitchen at https://marilenaskitchen.com/rustic-focaccia-with-tomatoes-onions-and-olives/