Caramelised Onion and Sundried Tomato Focaccia

Focaccia is always a crowd pleaser. You can let your creative juices flow as you play around with different toppings of your liking. This was my first time making it so I've definitely got a lot to learn (make sure you read the disclaimer), but hope you enjoy!

For the bread mix:

• 500g strong white bread flour

• 2 packets of yeast (14g)

• 1.5 tsp salt

• 1.5 tsbp olive oil (plus some for drizzling)

• 240ml lukewarm water

• 1 tsp sugar

For your chosen flavours:

• 2 red onions, thinly sliced

• 3 garlic cloves, crushed

• Fresh rosemary, thinly cut

• Pinch of salt

• handful wild garlic leaves, roughly chopped

• Roughly 60g sundried tomatoes

• 1 tsp chilli flakes

Method:

STEP 1

Into a frying pan, add your some oil and your red onions. Allow to fry on a medium heat for several minutes until there's some colour. After about 3-4 minutes, add in your minced garlic, rosemary, salt and chilli flakes. Cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Once everything has cooked, turn off the heat and add in your wild garlic leaves and sundried tomatoes. Combine together to allow the leaves to wilt. Leave to cool on the side

These ingredients are what I had at home, but you can add in any flavours that you fancy. You could try olives, sunflower seeds, some other fresh herbs like thyme and sage, and different cheeses!

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STEP 2

Into a beaker, add in your yeast, lukewarm water and sugar and give it a gentle mix. Allow the yeast to activate (you'll see it start to foam) for about 10-15 minutes.

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STEP 3

Into a large mixing bowl, add in your flour and salt. Next add in your caramelised onion mixture and combine.

*Disclaimer* So added the caramelised onion mixture here in the dough itself as I thought it would give more flavour than if I add in on top of the bread. However, I do think this made my dough mixture more wet, and it made it more difficult to get it to the stretchy, smooth consistency that I was hoping for. So to avoid this, you could definitely add your mixture at step 7 instead. So once you've stretched out your dough onto an oven tray, sprinkle your mixture on top. That way, you'll avoid an overly wet mixture, and the flavours should still incorporate when you press down on the dough to dimple it.

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STEP 4

Start adding in your yeast-water mixture. It's really important to start adding the water little by little. Next add in your oil until it starts to form a dough.

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STEP 5

Add your dough onto a floured surface. Put some oil on your hands, and start to knead the dough. Try and do this for roughly 10-15 minutes. It should form a springy, soft dough at the end*.

*Another disclaimer*- This process was a little stressful at first as I didn't think it would ever stop being sticky, but just keep going and add flour as you go along little by little to stop it from sticking to your hands.

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STEP 6

Place your dough onto a floured, large bowl. Cover the dough with some oiled cling film and leave it to prove in a warm place for roughly 1 hour (until the dough doubles in size basically, the longer you leave it the better)

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STEP 7

Once the dough had doubled in size, add some oil onto an oven tray and transfer the dough. Punch it down, and then stretch it out onto you tray**. Leave to prove for another 20 minutes.

**So this is when you could add your caramelised onion mixture instead, just before leaving the prove.

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STEP 8

Whilst the dough is rising, pre-heat your oven to 220 degrees (fan-assisted 200 degrees). Push down with your fingertips gently to dimple the dough throughout. Once ready, place in the oven on the middle shelf for around 20 minutes. Add in a cup or pan of water to the bottom shelf- this will help get your focaccia crispy. Half way through the cooking, brush over some olive oil.

You'll know its cooked when your focaccia is golden on the outside, with a lovely crunchy crust, and feels soft in the middle. Sprinkle some sea salt on top, let it cool for a couple of minutes and slice into pieces.

You can serve this with some olive oil on the side as a great starter!

Hope you enjoy x

Note:

I've been making some sweet and savoury snacks this week for the wonderful staff at our local hospital. This recipe was what I made for the ITU staff as a small thank you for all that they continue to do. Please stay at home and look out for each other- it's all they ask of us in return.