There’s nothing like a challenge to get you going. Angie (The Novice Gardener), who already hosts the lovely Fiesta Friday link party, is throwing a monthly cooking challenge. The first one is to cook/bake something with both yeast and herbs. The obvious choice is some kind of bread, though I am very excited to see what the other participants have come up with.
I decided on focaccia. It has been on my ever-growing list of must-try-at-home recipes for a long time now. We get freshly baked jalapeno and cheese focaccia from a nearby Farmer’s Market store. They make them in individual 6-inch sizes. So cute and so delicious. What? A six-inch bread is not individual size? I can’t hear you! The focaccia from the store is not too thick, which I love. It has the right amount of chewiness and the edges are slightly crisped.
Baking bread is always an adventure for me. I don’t know what I’ll end up with, till the bread comes out of the oven. Most recipes I found online claimed that an authentic focaccia must be drenched in olive oil before baking. I decided to cut down on the amount used and instead infuse the oil with garlic. I used this recipe as the base for my focaccia and developed on it.
Before baking, I topped the dough with tomatoes, parsley and paneer or Indian cottage cheese. The fact that I have my own parsley plant now (yay!) sort of sealed the deal. Do I get extra points for growing my herbs too, Angie? In fact, there is chopped parsley in the dough too. How awesome is that?!!
I also wanted to show off a neat trick I learned for crumbling firm store-bought paneer. Just use your electric chopper. No grating, no dicing and chopping. Just cut off large chunks of paneer and push a button. Okay, maybe you knew that already, but I have my “aha!” moments. So bear with me!
The minute the dough came together in the mixing bowl, my heart sank. It seemed too tough. But once I started kneading it, the dough yielded and after resting for a little while, it rose beautifully. I had fun poking at the shaped dough with my fingertips. I will tell you why it is done in just a minute.
Once topped and baked to golden perfection, it was time to try a slice.
It was perfectly springy, with a nice crust on the bottom and sides. Each slice had a piece of tomato, some parsley and paneer on it. I served the bread with a mango-chili dip (from the store and not home-made, sorry). It was absolutely delicious!
FOCACCIA BREAD WITH TOMATO, PARSLEY & COTTAGE CHEESE (approximately 10″x9″ size)
You will need:
- Active dry yeast – 1 tbsp
- Sugar – 1 tsp
- Very warm water – 1 cup (not boiling, around 110 deg.F)
- Oil – 4 tbsp + a little extra for brushing (olive oil is best, you can use vegetable oil too)
- Garlic – 4 pods, crushed or chopped
- All purpose flour – 2 3/4 cups + a little extra for dusting
- Salt – 1 tsp + a little extra for sprinkling on the toppings
- Dried oregano – 1/2 tsp
- Black pepper powder – a pinch
- Fresh flat leaf parsley – a small handful
- Tomato – 1, thinly sliced
- Paneer or cottage cheese – 1 cup, crumbled
How to:
- Proof the yeast by mixing yeast and sugar in a cup of warm water. Mix well and allow to foam for 5-10 minutes.
- While the yeast does it’s thing, let us infuse the oil with garlic. Add the garlic to 4 tbsp oil and warm it till heated. You can easily do this in the microwave for 30-40 seconds or till you get a nice garlicky smell.
- On to the dough now. In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, salt, dried oregano, black pepper powder and a few chopped parsley leaves (reserve some for topping the bread). Whisk well to combine. Add the yeast mixture and 2 tbsp of the garlic-infused oil and mix well. The dough will start to come together. Just when it forms a sticky mass, dump it onto a clean and floured surface. Knead well till is soft and elastic, around 5-8 minutes.
- Coat a bowl lightly with oil. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it so that every surface is coated completely with the oil (to prevent the dough from drying out). Cover with a damp towel and let it rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 450 deg.F and prepare a baking pan or rimmed baking sheet with foil.
- Once the dough is risen, punch it down and turn it out on to the baking sheet. Shape it into a flat bread of 1/2 inch thickness. Make dimples or indentations all over with your fingertips and brush with the rest of the garlic oil. The indentations will help the dough to absorb the oil effectively. Cover with a damp towel and rest the dough for a further 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, top the dough with sliced tomatoes, torn parsley leaves and crumbled paneer. Lightly sprinkle more salt on top. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove and cool slightly on a wire rack. Serve warm with a dipping sauce of choice or have it as such.
Notes:
- You can add any kind of herbs to the dough. I used dried oregano and fresh parsley. You can also use thyme, rosemary or a combination of your favorite herbs. The same goes for the topping as well. Olives, spiced eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms and peppers would work well.
- This is a quick focaccia bread recipe with very little rising time. More traditional recipes require almost 18-24 hours of resting time for the dough.
- This particular recipe is best served fresh. If you are planning to keep it overnight, make sure to add the paneer crumbs just before serving and re-heat the slices gently.
- Focaccia is good with just a light brushing of oil and sprinkling of sea salt on top. This way, it can be a simple bread to eat with soups, salads and pasta.
Nothing better than freshly-baked bread, don’t you think?
Hmm… delizioso!
I really hope you try this recipe and let me know how you liked it.
Also, take look at my recipe for a simple white bread for tips on kneading, resting and shaping the dough.
Here is a recipe for delicious homemade pizza, from scratch.
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I am linking this up to Fiesta Friday Challenge #1.
I am also linking this up at these awesome blogs.
- C.R.A.F.T
- A Blossoming Life
- Skip To My Lou
- The Dedicated House
- Between Naps on the Porch
- Home Stories A To Z
- My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
- A Stroll Thru Life
- Cedar Hill Ranch
- Coastal Charm
- Elizabeth & Co
- House On The Way
- Savvy Southern Style
- The NY Melrose Family
- The Turquoise Home
- Living Well Spending Less
- Design Dining and Diapers
- The Shabby Nest
- French Country Cottage
- Common Ground
- My Romantic Home
- The Charm of Home
- Thirty Handmade Days
- Crafts a la Mode
- Love of Family and Home
- DIY Show Off
- Nifty Thrifty Things
- By Stephanie Lynn
This looks great! I wish I had a big fat slice of this (also totally wish I knew how to make that dipping sauce because it sounds great)
Thank you, Karla. The dipping sauce is ready-made, but I will be trying to make it myself. I think mangoes, sugar/honey, salt and red chili flakes should do the trick!
Found your recipe over at Tasty Tuesday’s and it looks incredible. We just launched a new recipe link-up party, Tickle My TasteBuds, that goes live every Tuesday. I would love for you to link this delicious recipe to our inaugural party. Here is the link —> Ihttp://bit.ly/1oNxekf
Thanks for the invite, Lori!
Your Focaccia looks delicious with the tomato, parsley and cottage, Anjana 🙂
Thank you very much!
Visiting from Melt In Your Mouth Monday! This caught my eye, it looks simply delicious and perfect for summer!
Thank you, Yalanda!
Wow – I’m loving this bread, Anjana! I could just take a big bite out of my screen! Thanks for sharing a great recipe. I’ll be making it when my little nephews visit this weekend.
Visiting from Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop – so happy to find your beautiful blog. Followed you on Pinterest. Have a great day!
Thank you so much, Robyn. Appreciate that!
Awesome pics!! You r tempting me to cook tis recipe
Thank you!
Looks delicious, Anjana! 🙂
Thank you, Ahila!
Anjana, this looks soooo good! Better than a lot of focaccia I see in the stores, in fact. Bravo!
Aww… thank you, Ngan!
Looking so beautiful.
Thank you, Vibha!
Being Italian makes me really sensible to the focaccia charm! You focaccia looks really yummy, thanks for sharing!
Thank you. It means so much, coming from an Italian!
Wow, Anjana! Your post is wonderful! I love this recipe and your photographs are mouth-watering! I think I will have to try this recipe very soon, now that I have made 1 (well, it’s a start) recipe with yeast! :/
Thank you. This is a simple focaccia recipe, you’ll find its quite easy. Try it!
Simple and delicious focaccia!!! And your photos are beautiful!
Thank you 🙂
I could have a bite of that right now! Such a beautiful focaccia and lovely pictures. And that pizza- we had tried that a few months ago when we had just started blogging and it was perfect! 🙂
Thank you, Aditi. I remember you telling me about the pizza!
Wow, wow, wow! That focaccia looks gorgeous!!! I am working my way thru the challenge today. Lets see how it goes 😉
Thank you. Good luck to you!
I love focaccia ! I’ve tried some 14 or 15 different flavors till date. And some of my favorites have included your combo, and some more with mixed flours. Thanks for reminding me how wonderful it is to make bread at home.. especially this !
Wow! You are en expert then. I am going to try a whole wheat one next. What other flour do you use?
WW of course.. then sorghum, barley, oats, almond flour, and various others.. u name it I’ve used it 😉 . Happy baking and happy eating sweets ! 🙂
Lovely and looks so good. Can you tell me more about Indian Cottage Cheese? Is it paneer but crumbled? So curious!
Yes, it is crumbled paneer.
Love the colours, love the bread and the pictures!!! Anjana, you are tempting me to indulge in more bread when I am trying to resist. Thank you for the beautiful recipe!
Thanks so much, Sreedevi! Do indulge!! Maybe you could experiment with whole grain bread…
Looks great Anjana!
Thank you, Jess!
Oh my, Anjana…this looks delectable! It looks absolutely perfect to me. Such a delicious choice of toppings, too! A 6-inch focaccia is personal size? I thought a 10-inch was the perfect individual serving…especially if it looks like this!
Aww… Thanks a bunch, Nancy!
Yummy! gorgeous Colors Anjana.
Thank you, Namrata!
i love focaccia and this is a sure try
Please do and let me know how it turns out!
I agree–there’s not much better than fresh baked bread! Especially when it’s focaccia topped with so many delicious flavors! 🙂
I love fresh bread. Now that I know how easy focaccia is, I’ll be making it more often. Thanks for visiting, Patty!
Wow you did great on this!! Looks gorgeous! And so yummy! Excellent job!
Thank you, Lori!