Basil Focaccia Recipes

BASIL FOCACCIA

Steps:

• Whisk together 3 cups flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in a mixing bowl. Add warm water and mix well. If dough is too sticky, mix in another 1/2 cup flour.
• Oil a bowl. Fill another, larger bowl halfway with hot water.
• Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Form into a ball and place in the oiled bowl, turning to coat all sides with oil. Place the oiled bowl in the bowl of hot water. Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Oil a 9x13-inch baking pan.
• Turn dough out onto a floured surface and let rest for 5 minutes. Transfer dough to the prepared baking pan. Press and dimple with your fingers to even out the thickness and work it into the corners to fit. Brush lightly with olive oil, then sprinkle with garlic salt, Parmesan cheese, and finally basil.
• Bake in the preheated oven until deep golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Cut into 8 squares.

KIDS CAN BAKE: TOMATO-BASIL FOCACCIA BREAD

Steps:

• Put 1 1/2 cups warm water (about 110 degrees F) and 1 teaspoon of the sugar in a large bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over the top, and set aside until bubbly, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, whisk together both flours and the kosher salt in a medium bowl.
• Once the yeast is ready, add the oil to the bowl, then the flour mixture, and stir with a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms. Transfer the dough to a work surface dusted with all-purpose flour, and knead until it is smooth, elastic and slightly tacky, about 5 minutes.
• Lightly oil the bowl that held the flour mixture, put the ball of dough in it, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• Generously oil an 11-by-17-inch baking sheet. Punch the dough down, and transfer it to the baking sheet. Gently stretch the dough and pat it to the edges of the baking sheet with your hands (it will recede slightly from the edges). (If the dough is resistant, let it rest for about 10 minutes, then try again.) Dimple the dough all over with your fingers. Scatter the tomatoes over the top. Loosely cover, and let rise in a warm place until almost doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. When the dough is ready, uncover it, generously drizzle with oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake until the bread is golden brown and the tomatoes are soft and juicy, 20 to 25 minutes. Sprinkle the Parmesan over the top as soon as the bread comes out of the oven. Let cool on the baking sheet on a cooling rack. Top with the basil, and serve warm or at room temperature.

SUN-DRIED TOMATO AND BASIL FOCACCIA

Steps:

• In bowl, sprinkle sugar over water and add yeast. Let stand for 10 minutes or until frothy.
• Stir in olive oil, honey, cornmeal, salt and enogh flour to make a soft dough. Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface. Sprinkling surface with extra flour as needed to prevent dough from sticking, knead for 10 minutes or until dough is soft and elastic. Place in lightly greased bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubles in size, about 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Punch dough down, Knead in 3/4 cup sun dried tomatoes and basil. Let rest 5 minutes. Shape or roll into 15-inch rectangle. Transfer to ungreased baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes. Press into dough to create dimpled effect. Drizzle oil over top and sprinkle with coarse salt.
• Bake in center of preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with 1/4 cup sundried tomatoes. Bake for an additional 10 minutes or until golden and hollow sounding when tapped on the bottom.

BASIL-PARMESAN FOCACCIA WITH FRESH TOMATOES

Steps:

• Place the chopped onion in a bowl and pour boiling water over it. After 15 seconds, drain and blot dry with paper towels. Set aside.
• Combine the yeast with the half-cup of water. Add one and a half cups of the flour and mix. Turn the dough out on a lightly floured board and knead it for about eight minutes until it is smooth and elastic. Pour one tablespoon of the olive oil in a bowl, add the dough, turning once to cover with the oil. Drape a lightly dampened towel over the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free spot until doubled in bulk. This will take one and a half hours with rapid-rise yeast, or three hours with regular yeast.
• Punch down the dough, add the onion, a quarter-cup of water, three tablespoons of olive oil, the cup of Parmesan cheese, the remaining flour, the basil and two teaspoons salt, and mix. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead it for eight minutes, or until it is smooth and elastic, adding small amounts of additional flour if needed.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Roll the dough into a large circle measuring about 15 inches in diameter and about a quarter-inch thick, and transfer it to a heavy cookie sheet. Using your fingertips, make several indentations in the dough, so the surface is irregular. Brush with two tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle on two teaspoons of coarse salt. Bake in the top half of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the focaccia is golden brown and crisp. (You may prepare the recipe ahead to this point, but leave the baked focaccia at room temperature.)
• To prepare the topping, combine the olive oil, garlic, basil, salt and pepper. Lay the sliced tomatoes in an overlapping pattern on the focaccia and spoon the olive-oil mixture over them. Return the focaccia to the oven for two minutes. Sprinkle with three tablespoons of Parmesan and return the focaccia to the oven just until the cheese is melted and lightly browned, about one to two minutes. Remove from the oven and cut into large slices. Serve.