Tomato Rosemary Focaccia

Focaccia is always so tasty and is one of my favorite breads because you can put anything as the topping. Today, I made a tomato sauce and spread it over the top with some rosemary and just a few swirls of honey. The crunchy crust and the spongy interior is so satisfying. Serve it with an arugula salad and some mortadella for a perfect simple lunch or just cut a slice for a mid-afternoon snack!

Tomato Sauce (Prepared ahead of time)

• 2 Onions (diced)

• 2 Carrots (diced)

• 2 Red Bell Peppers (diced)

• 10 cloves Garlic (minced)

• 2 cans Crushed Tomatoes (28oz each)

• 4 sprigs Rosemary

• Salt

• Black Pepper

• Cayenne Pepper (optional)

1. In a large pot, sautée the onions, carrots, red bell peppers, and garlic until fragrant.

2. Add in the cans of crushed tomatoes and the rosemary and simmer on medium-low heat for about 3 hours. While this is a relatively simple recipe, I know this takes a long time, but the resulting sauce will have a much more developed flavor.

3. Fish out the rosemary stems.

4. Salt and pepper to taste.

5. (Optional) Use an immersion blender to make the sauce as smooth as possible. If you do not have an immersion blender, you can help the consistency of the sauce by chopping the vegetables more finely. You can also scoop portions of the sauce into a food processor and make it smooth in batches but this option always seems like too much hassle and clean up to me.

Focaccia

• 250 g Bread Flour

• 10 g Sea Salt

• 14 g Active Dry Yeast (2 packets)

• 25 g Olive Oil

• 220 g Warm Water (about 90°F - not too hot or the yeast could die)

1. Pour 50 g of water in a large mixing bowl and combine the yeast. Let the yeast bloom. Once you see some frothy bubbles, you’ll know that the yeast is alive and you can proceed.

2. Add in the flour, salt, olive oil, and the rest of the water. Using a silicon spatula, thoroughly combine all of the ingredients, making sure the scrape down the sides. The dough will look shaggy but there shouldn’t be any dry flour left.

3. Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 20 minutes.

4. After resting, add in 10 g of olive oil into the bowl and, using your hands, gently work around the edges of the dough to make sure nothing is sticking. Then perform the first fold.

5. First fold: Grab a handful of dough along the northern edge and gently stretch it upward as far as it will go without ripping and fold down. Repeat this 3 more times along the south, east, and west edge for a total of 4 stretch and folds. Then flip the dough over. With a cupping motion, tuck and rotate the dough to create a smooth surface.

6. Cover the mixing bowl and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.

7. After resting, perform the second fold. Repeat the steps in the first fold.

8. After the second fold, tightly cover the mixing bowl and put the dough in the refrigerator. Keep the dough in the refrigerator overnight or up to 24 hours. The cold of the refrigerator will allow for a slower fermentation process and deepen the overall flavor of the focaccia.

9. After resting the dough in the refrigerator, turn the dough out into a cast iron skillet.

10. Third fold: Repeat the stretch and fold technique one last time and then try to stretch the dough to fit the skillet as much as possible. Cover and let the dough come up to temp and finish its final rise for about 1 hour to 1.5 hours.

11. About 30 minutes before the dough is finished proofing, preheat the oven to 500°F. Place one oven rack at the very bottom rung and the other oven rack at the very top.

12. Once the dough is finished proofing, hold your hand like a claw and dimple all around the dough.

13. Gently spread the tomato sauce, rosemary, a drizzle of honey (optional), and a little bit more olive oil on the top. Key word is gentle. The dough should be full of gas and very bouncy.

14. Using a spray bottle, spray the surface of the focaccia 2 - 3 times. This will help the dough to rise.

15. Place the dough on the very bottom rack to start. After placing the dough into the oven, very quickly spray water directly into the oven about 15 - 20 times. This is to replicate steam injectors of professional ovens. After closing the oven door, lower the temperature to 450°F

16. Bake on the lower rack until you start to see the edges of the focaccia start to pull away from the sides of the skillet. This will be about 20 - 25 minutes. This will help to form a crispy bottom crust.

17. Then transfer the focaccia to the top rack for 5 - 10 minutes. This will help make a crispy top crust.

18. Once the top is nicely caramelized, take out the focaccia and let it cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before cutting into it.