Lean focaccia with cherry tomatoes and rosemary (photo: Alon Masika)
It's no secret that I'm addicted to everything related to breads and Italian baking, something about the simplicity and minimalism of the raw materials just captivates me, and with a little technique and loving hands, spectacular and so delicious results are obtained.
Focaccia is probably the most iconic and famous Italian bread, except perhaps the ciabatta (ciabetta) bun.
Flat breads are an ancient version of modern bread, and are very common in Mediterranean cuisine.
Some of them were probably eaten back in the time of the pharaohs.
Most of us may not be aware of it, but there are many types of focaccia.
In Tuscany there is a great seasonal flatbread pastry with wine grapes that are usually added to the dough from the grapes left over from the harvest, and another famous focaccia is the version from the Italian city of Genoa, which has deep depressions and a lot of olive oil.
elegant and wonderful.
Barza focaccia (photo: Alon Mesika)
What is lean focaccia and what is its secret?
Focaccia Barza comes to us from the port city of Bari, on the shores of the Adriatic in the southeastern province of Puglia.
This dough caught my attention thanks to soft potatoes that are added to the dough and give a special softness and a deep and very characteristic flavor to this bread.
The use of my favorite flour, durum flour, adds a golden hue, a nutty aroma and a slightly more viscous and chewy texture than the more familiar white flour.
Sometimes olives are also added, but here I contented myself with fleshy cherry tomatoes and a few aromatic rosemary leaves.
A very elegant result is obtained that straddles the seam between bread and pastry and is suitable as a "center piece" of a festive table.
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The soft potatoes added to the dough give this bread a special softness and a deep and very characteristic flavor (photo: Alon Mesika)
Focaccia with cherry tomatoes and rosemary
Ingredients
350 grams pizza flour or focaccia flour
150 grams durum semolina flour
3 grams of dry yeast
350 grams lukewarm
10 grams of salt
5 grams of sugar
20 grams of olive oil
2 potatoes
2 sprigs of rosemary separated into leaves
8-10 halved cherry tomatoes
Sea salt
For the conversion table click here >
Preparation
How do you make lean focaccia?
1 Place the potatoes in a pot and cover with water, salt the water a little and bring to a boil, cook for about 30 minutes or until the potatoes are soft to the touch of a fork.
Drain them, cool a little, remove the skin and break into rough pieces.
2 In a mixer bowl, put together the flours and yeast, mix with a kneading hook on slow speed.
Pour the water and put only until all the water is absorbed by the flour (about 2 minutes).
Cover the bowl and leave to rest for 20 minutes.
3 After about 20 minutes, continue kneading on medium speed for 8 minutes, until the dough is completely assembled and smooth, cover again and leave to rest for 5 minutes.
4 Add the salt and cook for another 2 minutes.
Pour the olive oil and continue kneading until the dough comes together again, about 3 minutes.
5 Add the potatoes and put on slow speed for about 2 minutes.
Transfer the dough to a wide bowl greased with a little olive oil and cover.
Leave to rest again for 20 minutes.
6 Fold the dough in a rolling motion, to obtain a taut and smooth texture.
Cover and let the dough rise in a warm place for about an hour and fold it every 30 minutes - a total of 2 folds. Cover and let it rise for another two hours, until it doubles in size.
7 Line a large baking sheet with baking paper, grease with olive oil, dust lightly with durum flour and place the dough on top.
Leave to rest for 20 minutes.
8 Gently stretch the dough with your hands until it covers the tray and let it rise for another 40 minutes, until it is very puffy.
Meanwhile, heat the oven to 250 degrees.
9 Using the pads of your fingers, make deep dimples along the dough and place the cherry halves and the rosemary leaves on top.
Wet your fingers a little and drizzle a little water and a little olive oil over the dough.
Sprinkle a little sea salt on top and place in the center of the hot oven for about 15 minutes, until nicely browned.
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