Add some goodies on top of flat bread, put it in the oven and out comes deliciousness. It’s that simple. You can either make your own bread or you can get some in the store. If you get foccacia in the store it comes in different thicknesses. If the bread is more than an inch thick I usually slice it in half and then sprinkle with olive oil and add my toppings. But if you want to make foccacia from scratch it is very simple and all you need is a little time for it to rise. You can really use your own imagination of what you want to put on the bread. I love the combination of salt, rosemary and olive oil and you could leave it at that – but adding cheese and pears gives it a little sweetness and creaminess. There are so many options, just use your imagination.
The Pear Rosemary and Goat Cheese Foccacia is featured in the second issue of the amazing magazine by House of Fifty. If you missed it you have to go and check it out, Janell of Isabella and Max did a fabulous job and all the recipes have step by step instructions.
Picture from House of Fifty
Pear Rosemary and Goat Cheese Foccacia
Yield: 2 - 9 inch breads
Prep Time: 4 hours
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
3/4 cup (177 ml) warm water (105° to 110°F)
2 tsp (30 ml) milk, slightly warmed
1 1/2 tsp (6 grams) sugar
1 1/4 tsp (5 grams) active dry yeast
2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp (3 grams) salt
6 tbsp (90 ml) olive oil
2 Bartlett Pears (thinly sliced)
1 tsp fresh rosemary needles
8 ounces of goat cheese
2 tsp coarse sea salt
Directions:
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, stir together the water, milk, sugar, and yeast. Let the mixture sit until foamy, about 10 minutes. Add the flour, salt and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil to the yeast mixture and mix well on low. Attach the dough hook, raise the speed to medium-low and knead the dough for 8 minutes longer.
Brush a large bowl with a generous amount of olive oil. Scrape dough into the bowl and brush the top with additional oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise in a cool place until it doubles in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Press the dough down with a floured hand. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and divide it into two balls. Brush a large baking sheet (or two small ones) with olive oil, place the balls of dough on it and brush the top with more oil. Set it aside for 20 minutes, lightly covered with a kitchen towel. After 20 minutes, dip your fingers in olive oil and press and stretch each ball of dough into an 8 to 9-inch circle shape. It will be dimpled from your fingers. Cover again with the towel and let it rise for another 1 1/4 hours in a cool place.
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Brush tops of dough with remaining olive oil and top the sliced pear, goat cheese, rosemary, coarse sugar and coarse sea salt evenly over the dough. Bake for 15 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and puffed around edges. Let cool before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
One Year Ago: Top Wineries in Walla Walla, WA
Maris (In Good Taste) says
August 11, 2011 at 12:38 amAbsolutely gorgeous!
Heather (Heather's Dish) says
August 11, 2011 at 3:49 amwhat a great combination of flavors…i love the pear and goat cheese combo!
Delishhh replied: — August 11th, 2011 @ 7:17 am
Heather – Hope is well with you – i will email you offline. Have some good news!
Mandie replied: — August 11th, 2011 @ 7:24 am
I make the dough via my bread maker. I throw it in and walk away then pull it out when ready and rub olive oil and throw some herbs and grated cheese on it and bake.
Delishhh replied: — August 11th, 2011 @ 8:29 am
Mandie – Oh nice – I am going to try that. i do have a breadmake but haven’t used it for this. Thanks for the idea.
Lana @ Never Enough Thyme says
August 11, 2011 at 4:25 amWhat a delicious combination! And a gorgeous photo, too.
Mandie says
August 11, 2011 at 5:23 amI make Foccacia a lot and this is a very nice twist! Thanks for sharing.
Delishhh replied: — August 11th, 2011 @ 7:16 am
Mandie – Do you have a foccacia recipe you like – is it similar to this or easier? I love this recipe only problem is that is it time consuming.
Eliana says
August 11, 2011 at 6:12 amSo in love with the sweet salty combination here! This could not look more amazingly delicious!
Faith says
August 11, 2011 at 6:46 amWhat a great combo! very nice twist. I bet the taste was great.
Becs says
August 21, 2011 at 1:23 pmWow, what a combination of flavours! I’m drooling at the thought! I’m really into making my own artisan focaccia, I leave mine to rise in the fridge overnight.
Cookin' Canuck says
August 22, 2011 at 10:33 amWhat a beautiful focaccia! Our pear tree is set to be bursting with pears by mid-September, so I am bookmarking this until then.
megan @ whatmegansmaking says
August 24, 2011 at 2:57 amoh my goodness this sounds good! Perfect combination of flavors 🙂
Marla says
August 25, 2011 at 4:19 amLove the sweet & savory flavors in this foccacia
Rhonda@Laugh Quotes says
August 25, 2011 at 12:12 pmWow, this looks great! My teen is a new vegetarian, so we are forever looking for delicious options.
Megan's Cookin' says
October 26, 2011 at 6:12 amI have a lot of goat cheese that I need to use up and this sounds perfect!