May 10, 2023

The Best Focaccia

Rather than spend Mother's Day enduring the stress of restaurant eating with a 3 year old (plus wolfing down food and barely tasting it), Chris and I decided to take a picnic lunch to the park down the street from our house.  And what a great idea that was!
It was the perfect day for a picnic, and our lunch was so incredibly delicious, and actually easy to prepare.  I wasn't sure I was up for cooking on Mother's Day, but being in the kitchen is surprisingly relaxing for me, as long as I'm not perpetually dodging little feet and big demands.
I was really up for making some hearty sandwiches, and came across a great recipe for focaccia, the dough for which I made in the bread machine (best bulky, cabinet space-devouring kitchen appliance ev'ah!).

The bread came out perfectly, and is definitely on the weekly request list.  I might just make some more tomorrow, as it is tasty with salad, soup or as a sandwich.
I sliced the focaccia and tucked in sliced tomato, fresh basil, mozzarella, a little mayo and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.  We also enjoyed pasta salad, salt and vinegar chips (fave of the Mister), pickles, Orangina, and angel food cake with berries and cream.  Yummy!
So back to the focaccia: here's the recipe, modified from Allrecipes.com

Bread Machine Focaccia
INGREDIENTS
  • 1 cup lukewarm water
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (grated finely)
  • 3 cups bread flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • coarse sea salt
DIRECTIONS
  1. Place water, 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt, garlic, Parmesan, bread flour and yeast in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select Dough cycle; press Start.
  2. Remove dough from bread machine when cycle is complete. Pat dough into either a 9x13 inch baking pan or 12 inch pizza pan. Use your fingers to dimple the dough every inch or so. Brush with remaining olive oil and sprinkle with coarse salt.
  3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Cover focaccia with plastic wrap while oven preheats.
  4. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown. let cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Really, really delicious and so little effort to make thanks to the bread machine.  I'm thinking I'd like to stuff it with sauteed red onion and portabello mushrooms next.

5 comments:

  1. As always...that sounds SOOOOOOO delicious!! :)

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  2. It looks like you all had a wonderful day with your homemade lunch xD

    And I'm DEFINITELY going to have to try that recipe! I've never made bread before, but I'd love to give it a try :)

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  3. thanks for that recipe!!!! Those pics are making me so super hungry!! Looks like you had a fun day~! Happy Mother's Day week :O)

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  4. Lovely picnic pics! Thanks for the recipe, too. My hubs is grateful for bread maker recipes that I will eat. ;)

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