From Spain to Italy with Focaccia

My husband used to be quite a regular to Italian and chinese restaurants, before marriage. So his knowledge ( rather taste buds! ) of those cuisines are so vast that it used to amaze me quite a lot. During early days of our marriage when I started my cooking and donned the apron, my hubby was my best critic, especially for other cuisines other than South Indian. :) I had tried a vast no. of Italian dishes but one - Foccaccia. My hubby loves Foccaccia a lot and sings its praises so much that, that I have been v apprehensive to cook. He had been insisting hintingly at my obvious pretermit. So at last, recently, I thought that the time has come to face my fears and make it at home. The result made me think that i need not have feared it in the first place!



I have previously never had Foccaccia, dint know how it looked,smell taste - nothing! But after I had the one I made, it has made me an instant lover. The prep was not at all hard. For such a small effort the result was a wonder! Oh ya, My hubby gave it A++ :). I am submitting this as my entry to Bread Baking Day #04 Event , a blog event initiated by Zorra



Here is the recipe I had noted for Foccaccia

Ingrediants

• 3 cups bread flour
  
  
  
• 1 tsp salt
  
  
  
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
  
  
  
• 2 tsp rapid rise dried yeast
  
  
  
• 11/4 cups lukewarm water
  
  
  
• 1 tbsp pesto
  
  
  
• 2/3 cup pitted black olives,chopped
  
  
  
• 3 tbsp drained sun-dried tomatoes in oil, chopped
  
  
  
• 1 tsp coarse sea salt
  
  
  
• 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
  
  

Method

1. Preheat Oven to 425 F. Sift the flour,salt and pepper in a bowl.





2. Add the yeast and sugar and make a well in the center. Add water with pesto,olives and sun dried tomatoes.




3.Mix it into a soft dough,adding little water if necc.



4.Transfer the dough onto a floured surface and knead till smooth and elastic.



5.Then store it in a well oiled bowl and cover it with a plastic wrap



and keep it in a warm place till risen



6.Now knead it again for a min and then shape it into an Oval size.



Place it a greased baking sheet



and cover it with a plastic wrap.



Leave it again for a while in a warm place till it rises a second time

7. Now oil the surface with either Olive oil or the sun dried tomato's reserved oil.




8. Using the fingertips make indentations all over the surface of the bread and sprinkle salt and rosemary on top.



9.Bake for 20-25 min until golden.



10.Transfer to a wire rack.



11. I served it warm with some Bell pepper'ed pasta and our dinner was a total winner :)