This Spring Focaccia Recipe Is a Muffuletta-Lover's Dream
Not all heroes wear capes. Some wear chef toques. Such is the case with Chef-Instructor and Director of Culinary Affairs Hervé Malivert, whose recipe for focaccia with tomato, onion and rosemary is both the perfect base for muffuletta and an incredible standalone snack.
TikTok's sunscape-meets-Starry Night focaccia trend may be pretty, but when it comes to this Italian flatbread, it's the taste, texture and density that count — specifically, the taste must be salty but not too salty; the texture must be pillowy on the inside and crisp on the outside (at the edges, especially); and the density must be sufficient to support horizontal slicing and sandwich fillings without evoking a brick when you bite into it.
Though exceedingly artistic, Chef Hervé, like most culinary professionals, subscribes to our industry's unifying doctrine: taste trumps all. (So while pretty and tasty can surely co-exist, I'll take Chef Herve's perfectly-proofed focaccia over floral-themed TikTok breads anytime.)
To get his focaccia's edges extra crispy, Chef Hervé likes to slather them with olive oil before cooking. Hence, the full cup of olive oil in the recipe's ingredient call (below). He also likes to split his recipe's dough between two large sheet pans (versus a single professional chef sheet pan)"to make the bread much thicker," and thus create a "better base for sandwiches."
Watching him slice through the finished focaccia before layering his muffuletta ingredients, we couldn't agree more.
To make this recipe, use the ingredients and instructions below... and enjoy!
Ingredients
For the Focaccia:
- 1080 grams water
- 30 grams sugar
- 24 grams fresh yeast (9.6 grams, if using dry yeast)
- 1650 grams all-purpose flour
- 32 grams salt
- 200 grams olive oil (for parchment paper)
For the Topping:
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 cup rosemary leaves
- 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
- Maldon salt, to finish
Directions
- Preheat oven to 450°F.
- Into bowl of stand mixer, pour water, sugar and yeast.
- Slowly mix with paddle attachment, approximately 1 minute (to break up yeast).
- Add flour in stages, mixing on slow speed until incorporated.
- Add salt, increase speed to medium and mix until dough texture is homogeneous and smooth.
- Return speed to slow and drizzle in the oil, mixing until fully incorporated. (You may need to increase the speed to incorporate completely.)
- Prepare sheet pan with parchment paper oiled on both sides.
- Transfer dough onto sheet pan and gently tug to even it out.
- Allow dough to rise and become pillow-like. (It should double in size.)
- Arrange toppings on dough then drizzle with oil.
- Place sheet pan in oven and bake 25-35 minutes until golden brown.
- Immediately transfer to wire rack to cool.
- Top with sprinkle of Maldon salt, then slice and serve (or freeze for use at later date).
