Prairie glow acres

If you are looking for a way into a bread lover’s heart, this focaccia is your sure route. Chewy pillowy salty goodness awaits, along with a beautiful feast for the eyes with a cheese and herb blend and tomato hearts topping that scream I love you, and all those who are invited to partake will surely be exclaiming: You Stole my Focheartccia!  

This recipe is different from so many others, and may I say in an amazing way.  

The dough is a no-knead recipe that you make and bake on the same day, as opposed of so many which require an overnight rest, and instead of kneading, you’ll do a series of stretch and folds (which take about 30 seconds each) as you would with sourdough over the course of a few hours before allowing the dough to rest and get all bubbly and fabulous before it hits the oven. You will want to start this very forgiving recipe 4-5 hours before you’d like to bake it.  

Prep time: 10 minutes 

Rise time: 4-5 hours 

Cook time: 15-20 minutes 

Ingredients for the Focaccia dough: 

420 ml of warm water 

1 tsp of yeast  

1 tsp of honey 

1 tsp of olive oil (plus more for oiling the pan and bread before baking) 

2 tsp on salt  

500g of flour 

Ingredients for the topping: 

12 Grape tomatoes 

½ cup Shredded Parmesan 

½ cup Shredded Mozzarella  

¼ cup of fresh whole rosemary leaves pulled off the stem 

1 tsp Maldon flake salt or coarse salt to sprinkle on before 

Directions: 

1. Add the warm water, yeast, honey, olive oil, and salt to a large mixing bowl, stir up well with a spoon. 
   
2. Add the flour and using a large spoon, combine until a craggy dough forms. 
   
3. Cover the bowl with a beeswax cover or plastic wrap or a tea towel, set aside in a warm place or in the oven set to “proof” and set a timer for 15 minutes.  
   
4. Using damp hands, perform a few sets of folds by imagining the dough in the bowl has four sides, grabbing the dough on one side and stretching it up 8 to 10 inches and then laying it across the dough below, then grabbing the next “side” and repeating the process until you’ve gone around the dough a few times and it’s well mixed. Each time you do 4 “sides” is considered one set of folds. Flip the dough over and cover it again. Set a timer for 15 minutes. 
   
5. Perform 1 set of folds and flip the dough. Cover and set aside.  
   
6. Set a timer for 30 minutes. 
   
7. Perform 1 set of folds and flip the dough. Cover and set aside. 
   
8. Set a timer for 30 minutes. 
   
9. Perform 1 set of folds and flip the dough. Cover and set aside. 
   
10. Set a timer for 30 minutes. 
    
11. Perform 1 set of folds, then add 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a 9×13 pan, then place the dough “folds” side down in the pan shaping and stretching it into a rectangle in the center of the pan, and covering the top of the dough with another tsp or two of olive oil using your hands. Set aside in a warm place like an oven with the light on or an oven set to proof.  
    
12. Set a timer for 1 hour. 
    
13. At this point you can get all your tomatoes washed and patted dry, then place a tomato lengthwise on a cutting board and slice it in half lengthwise. Next, cut each half on an angle into two even pieces, like you were going from 10 o’clock to 4 o’clock. Now, if you flip one side of the angle tomato and place it together with the other side, you will have a perfect heart shape. Repeat this process with all your tomatoes. 
    
14. Once the 1-hour timer goes off, the dough should be fluffy and bubbly and doubled in size. Using your fingers, stretch and poke holes in the dough moving it to fill the pan from corner to corner.  
    
15. Preheat your oven to 425°f.  
    
16. Next you can decorate your focaccia top. Place tomato hearts all over your focaccia dough.  
    
17. Sprinkle your cheese blend all around your tomato hearts.  
    
18. Add your rosemary leaves all around as you wish.  
    
19. Sprinkle the dough with Maldon flake salt (my favorite) or coarse salt.  
    
20. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown on top.  
    
21. Remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool.  
    
22. Enjoy warm!