Focaccia Caprese

 

Usually I am always late in posting for We Knead to Bake the bread baking group I am a part.
And Aparna did say in the fb group yesterday that 24 th will be the posting day as usual and in my mind I said to myself I was fast in baking the Focaccia in the begning of the month itself so I must post this time on time.

But as usual it was a very busy day today and now it is nine in the evneing and I am home alone ( Hans is gone for a rehersals and will be only back home late) so I said to myself instead of watching TV in the evneing I will sit and write the post for tommorow.

Ofcourse as always nothing goes that easy for me :-) I use laptop even though I like the desktop and when ever i use the laptop I use the mouse ( yeah yeah laugh at me) and ofcourse mouse was not working I changed the battery still not working so I took that small thinge which is plugged in to use the mouse and be my luck it just flew off while i was trying to pull it off and my luck be it I coudn't find it, so had to look around the sofa take all the pillows and mats away to see if it is in between and Voila there it is inbetween the sofa :-)

Anyway now to the Focaccia .

This month it was Focaccia Caprese Aparna choosed and one reason I made them fast was we love any kind of focaccia and this was indeed very delicious.
We ate with soup for dinner . Only minus point is that they are so good that you can't stop eating them :-)
Note from me:
I made the recipe exact just that i didn't use fresh basil leaves etc, so in the filling recipe i have not written them which was in the original recipe.

I also brushed the dough with the herb oil and also when I made the dimple shapes I slathered with the herb oil.

Focaccia Caprese
(Adapted from The Kitchen Whisperer)
Ingredients:

For the Dough:

2 tsp instant yeast
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
3 1/2 cups bread flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup oil (preferably olive oil)
1 to 1 1/2 cups warm water
A little more olive oil for brushing dough

For the Topping:

4-5 larg-ish tomatoes, sliced thin
1 6-7” round piece of fresh buffalo mozzarella, cut into1/4” slices**

For the Herbed Oil:
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1/4 to 1/2 tsp red chilli flakes
1/2 tsp finely minced garlic/ paste
Salt to taste

Note:
* If you cannot find bread flour, you can add 1 tbsp of Vital Wheat Gluten to 3 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour and mix together well. Otherwise just use 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour.
**I don’t get fresh buffalo mozzarella where I live. So I used regular mozzarella instead, the kind we use on pizzas. I used the Kodai Diary brand of mozzarella but Amul should do as well. Otherwise, use any “melty/ stringy” kind of cheese you can find.

Method:
First make the herbed oil. Put all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk them together. Keep aside till required.
The dough can be mixed and kneaded by hand or machine. Put the yeast, sugar flour, salt and oil in the bowl of the processor and pulse a couple of times to mix well. Then add 1 cup of warm water (and as much more as you need) and knead until you have a soft elastic dough that is just short of sticky.
Remove the dough from the processor bowl, shape into a round and place in a well oiled bowl turning the dough around so it is coated. Cover and let it rise till almost double in volume. This should take about an hour.
You can make this as 2 medium sized Focaccia or 4 smaller ones like I did. For the rectangular Focaccia, take two rectangular pans/ jelly or Swiss roll pans (I used an 11" by 7" tins) and oil them well. Then divide the dough into two equal portions and lightly roll them (or press out) out into approximately 11” by 7”. If making 4 Focaccia, then divide the dough into 4 equal portions. Roll each portion out (or press out) evenly into approximately 5” by 7”. It alright if it’s an odd shape because Focaccia is really a “rustic” bread.

Transfer the dough to the baking tins. The dough will shrink a little. Use your fingers and push it out a bit making sure it’s evenly thick throughout. Let it rise for 20 minutes. Lightly oil your finger tips and press into the dough creating evenly spaced “dimples” in it. Generously brush the surface with oil.
Bake at 210C (410F) for about 18 to 20 minutes till it is almost done and is beginning to turn golden brown. Take the Focaccia out and turn up the heat of your oven to 230C (450F).

I am sending this Delicious bread to Yeast Spotting