Simple Focaccia

Focassia is an Italian flat bread. It also has toppings like the pizza, but lacks the sauce that usually goes over it. Also it is generally thicker than the pizza crust and is also used to make sandwiches.

This recipe is similar to the Pizza recipe. So the Ingredients and quantities stay the same. For the sake of convenience I will list them again. The rest is pretty simple. Add some simple topping and bake.

Ingredients

Flour – 3 1/2 cups
water – 1 cup
yeast – 2 tbsp
honey – 2 tbsp
olive oil – 1/4 cup
salt – 1/2 tsp

Method

Put all the ingredients in the bread machine in the order suggested by the manual and select the dough option. That’s all to it.If you are using a food processor/ stand mixer / doing it by hand, make sure the water is warm(approx 95^oto 115^o). Mix the salt and honey in the water and then mix in the yeast. Let it stand for 5 to 10 min.

I have used sugar instead of honey.Take a cup of flour in a mixing bowl and mix in the oil and the yeast mixture. Slowly start adding the remaining flour. Knead the dough a little and put it aside for about 45 min.

Roll out the dough to fit in a jelly roll pan. You can also spread the dough out with your hand as is traditionally done. I use a combination of both. First roll it out a bit and then put it in a lightly greased jelly roll pan and pull and spread gently with hand to fill in the pan completely.

Next make indents with your fingers all over the dough. Brush with oil and add your favourite toppings to it.

I had brused the dough with garlic oil (just add a minced garlic clove to a little oil). Then I sprinkled some dried onion pieces on the dough.

Let it sit in a warm place for about 20 min and then bake for about 25 min in a preheated oven at 375^o.

Remove from pan and let it cool on a rack before serving.

You can cut it into small strips for serving as an appetizer; or cut larger squares, split in the middle and add your favorite sandwich fillings to make some delicious sandwiches.