A short post this week. Things are crazy.
Here’s another great snack you can make starting with a basic pizza dough, whether homemade or store-bought: spread it out on a cookie sheet or shallow rectangular baking pan, poke it all over with your fingers, then top with rosemary, sale grosso, pepper and a good drizzle of olive oil, and bake it in the oven until golden. Super-simple but really, really tasty. So tasty that I bet you’ll have a hard time not turning that snack into a full meal….
Ingredients
1 batch pizza dough, either homemade (see this post) or store-bought
2-3 springs of fresh rosemary
Coarse sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
Olive Oil
Directions
Take your fully risen dough and spread it out with you hands in a well-greased cookie sheet or shallow rectangular baking pan, making sure the dough covers the whole bottom, including the corners. Poke the dough all over with your fingers. (This creates little depressions to catch the oil and flavorings.)
Strip the rosemary leaves off their stems and chop them roughly with a knife or mezzaluna. Sprinkle the rosemary all over the top of the dough. Sprinkle the dough with the sea salt and lots of freshly ground pepper. Drizzle the top generously with olive oil.
<Let the dough rest in a warm place for a while so it rises again. Depending on how ‘fluffy’ you like your focaccia, you can let it rest as little as 30 minutes or as much as 1-1/2 hours. (Recipes vary wildly on this point; I usually go for an hour.)
Pop the dough into a moderately hot over (180C/350F), preferably with the convection function on, for about 30 minutes or so, or until the top is browned to your liking. (Again, I like mine crunchier than most.)
Take the focaccia out of the oven, let it cool off a bit on a rack and eat!
Take the focaccia out of the oven, let it cool off a bit on a rack and eat!
NOTES: Focaccia is equally good, in my book, either warm from the oven or at room temperature. I like mine with lots of seasonings (as you can tell from the photos!) but most you will find are much more restrained.
<
The genius of the dish, of course, is in the toppings, which really should be of the best-quality you can find: fresh rosemary (in my case, just picked from my herb garden), coarse best-quality sea salt, freshly ground aromatic black pepper and nice, fruity olive oil. If you want to take it to the next level, then make your own pizza dough and let it rise slowly, overnight, for full flavor.
The Tuscans call this flat bread schiacciata, which means ‘crushed’ or ‘flattened’, a reference to the way that you flatten the dough out and poke it with your fingers.
good, mybe can add tomatos and black olive
Sure, why not? Thanks for stopping by!
Dishes like this are, in my humble opinion, the essence of Italian cuisine: simple, made with attention to the ingredients and full of flavor. The work the magic of making you forget everything else.
I couldn’t agree more, Simona!
Bellissima focaccia, Frank! And I'm sure it's also buonissima.
You're welcome, Beatriz! Glad you enjoyed it. And, yes, Angelina's diet was economical. It had to be!
It turned out very well! No leftovers…just two or three pieces that we ate latter on while watching TV…Next time I'll try it with some thyme, maybe. Angelina's diet is fantastic! Healthy, delicious, economic. Very usefull during crisis such as the one we are enduring here in Portugal. Once again, thank you!
Beatriz Tavares
Ciao, Alessandra! Couldn't agree more!
Nothing like the smell of fresh rosemary in the kitchen! Alessandra from dinnerinvenice.com
Agreed. :=)
Sorry you're having issues, Francesca! Let me see what I can find out. Do let me know if the problems persist.
Yes, you can, although after trying it I'd recommend *ample* oil on the bottom or sticking with a cookie sheet…
Well, then, time to make some! ;=)
Sounds like a lovely dinner. Let us know how it turns out if you do make it!
love focaccia! one of the best things in the whole world!
Ciao Frank,
I am having trouble accessing your blog. Some pages load (excruciatingly slowly), but don't scroll, and other don't load at all. I am using Safari 6.0.1 on an iMac with OSX 10.8.2.
I hope this is only a temporary problem.
Tanti saluti da Los Angeles.
Francesca
All that olive oil, coarse salt and rosemary looks like the perfect topping Frank. I love that white container, but can you cook your foccaccia in that too?
looks great and would love some right now
The basic dough of Angelina's Pizza Casareccia is very good! This will probably be our dinner tonight…A nice soup, Focaccia al Rosmarino, red wine…I also grow rosmary, parsely, thyme and so on,…at my 11th floor balcony…Easy to pick…Thanks for the idea! Latter on I'll tell you all about the results.
Beatriz Tavares