Jamie Oliver’s 3 Flavoured Focaccia Bread
Three Flavour Focaccia
With balsamic onion, tomato & basil and three cheese & rosemary
Get excited about making this 3 flavoured focaccia as it is so easy to do. Serve it at a braai or with some roast chicken. The base is wonderful as you can add any topping that you would like to it.
Serves: 10
Duration: 1 hour
Rating: Super easy
Ingredients
For the dough…
- 400 g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
- 100 g fine ground semolina flour or strong white bread flour
- sea salt
- 1 sachet dried yeast
- ½ tablespoon golden caster sugar
- 300 ml water, lukewarm
- olive oil
- extra virgin olive oil
- 2 red onions, finely sliced
- a few sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves picked
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
For the basil and cherry tomato topping…
- 1 bunch of fresh basil, leaves picked
- 1 large handful of ripe cherry tomatoes, halved
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- extra virgin olive oil
- white wine vinegar
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
For the three-cheese and rosemary topping…
- 30 g Taleggio cheese
- 1 small log of goat’s cheese
- 1 handful of Parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 sprig of fresh rosemary, leaves picked
Pair this delectable bread with a lovely Pinot Noir from the Hemel en Aarde Valley!
Method
Place the flours and ½ tablespoon of sea salt into a large bowl, and make a well in the middle. Add the yeast and sugar to the lukewarm water, and mix with a fork. Leave this for a few minutes and, when it starts to foam, slowly pour it into the well, mixing with a fork as you go.
As soon as all the ingredients come together, which may take a minute or so, knead vigorously for around 5 minutes until you have a smooth, springy, soft dough.
Lightly oil a large bowl with some olive oil and transfer the dough to the bowl. Dust with a little extra flour, cover with a tea towel and leave to prove in a warm place for 30 minutes until doubled in size.
While the dough is rising, preheat your oven to 220°C/425°F/gas mark 7 and prepare the toppings.
For the balsamic onion topping, fry the sliced onions and thyme leaves in 2 tablespoons of olive oil over a low heat for about 5 minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar, reduce for a minute or two, then leave to cool.
For the basil and cherry tomato topping, roughly chop the basil leaves and pop them into a bowl with the cherry tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a tiny splash of white wine vinegar. Add the garlic and mix it all.
To cook the focaccia, as soon as the dough has risen, pound it then place on a baking tray and spread it out to cover the tray. Push down roughly on top of the dough like a piano to make lots of rough dips and wells.
Divide the onion and the tomato toppings over two thirds of the focaccia. For the three-cheese and rosemary topping, break up the Taleggio and the goat’s cheese over the remaining third of the focaccia. Sprinkle over the grated Parmesan and rosemary leaves and season with pepper. Finish with a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt. Leave to prove for a further 20 minutes then bake for 20 minutes, until golden on top and soft in the middle.
Source: Jamie Oliver, www.jamieoliver.com
Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts.― James Beard