Garden focaccia

To start the weekend, I suggest a garden focaccia, also called garden focaccia, it is decorated with vegetables, fresh herbs and flowers for a very wow effect when it arrives at the table but also a wow effect when it is served. tasting… I discovered the principle on Pinterest and I found it super nice, I wanted to make my version.
I happened to attend a very cool Zoom workshop during the last lockdown (it’s crazy, I think those words wouldn’t have made any sense two years ago!). This online workshop was therefore led by the Chef of the restaurant Le Clarence, Giuliano Sperandio and intended to promote Italian products. On the program of this videoconference devoted to “Italian breadmaking and gourmet picnic from Southern Italy”, he offered us, among other things, his breadsticks and focaccia recipes in different versions, including sweet (stroscia).

I chose to test one of his focaccia to make this one. Of the two versions, I chose the one that requires the dough the most time to rest because I generally find the result to be crispier. So I made the dough the day before and it really takes few ingredients to make it: flour, fresh baker’s yeast, water, salt and olive oil. Place the resulting dough in an oiled bowl for 2 hours, then reshape the ball and go overnight in the refrigerator. We then get it in shape and there are 2 more resting sequences of 1.5 hours.
Before the last pause step, the surface of the focaccia is covered with brine. I didn’t use it all because the quantity is quite large for the surface. I sprinkled it with a tablespoon, using as much of the olive oil as possible.

All that remains is to arrange the vegetables in a creative way. As the focaccia cooks at a fairly high temperature (220 ° C) and it was the first time I tested this type of recipe, I did not put all the herbs in the oven because I was afraid they would burn. . But in fact, they’re smeared with olive oil to “stick” them to the dough, so they’re not. I added the herbs I had left over after cooking, as well as the borage and chive flowers. This is also good because it gives a fresh side.

The result is perfect: the focaccia is thick, crisp on the outside, soft on the inside and the wow effect worked really well at home. The garnish brings flavor, it’s a great recipe for an aperitif or for a buffet …

I wish you an excellent gourmet weekend!

 

Type of dish: Aperitif
Food : original
Preparation time : 1 hour
Cooking time : 15 minutes
Rest time : 10 hours
Total time : 11 hours 15 minutes
Servings: 6 to 8 people
Author : Turbigo Delicacies

 

INGREDIENTS

For the focaccia:

• 700 g flour
• 10 g fresh baker’s yeast
• 380 g of water
• 20 g of salt
• 25 g extra virgin olive oil
• For the brine:
• 150 g lukewarm water
• 70 g extra virgin olive oil
• 6 g of salt

For garnish :

• ½ red or yellow pepper
• 1 small red onion
• some cooked asparagus
• cocktail tomatoes or cherry tomatoes
• fresh herbs (parsley, dill, basil, etc.)
• chive flowers, borage flowers, etc. (optional)
• olive oil
• Sesame seeds

 

INSTRUCTIONS

Prepare the focaccia:

1. Combine the flour, water and fresh baking powder in a salad bowl or the bowl of your food processor and knead until the
2. whole begins to crumble.
3. Add the olive oil and salt then, when the mixture becomes homogeneous, form a ball and place the dough in an oiled container.
4. Film then let stand for 2 hours.
5. When the volume of the dough has doubled, turn the dough over on a work surface, knead lightly and reform into a ball.
6. Put it back in the oiled container and film again.
7. Let sit in the refrigerator overnight.
8. The next day, take out the dough and spread it out on a lightly oiled baking sheet (mine measures 30 x 40 cm).
9. Let the dough rest again for 1.5 hours in a turned off oven (I preheated mine to 30 ° C before turning it off).
10. Take the baking sheet out of the oven and then form holes in the surface of the dough with your moistened fingers.
11. Sprinkle generously with the brine (you don’t have to add the full amount).
12. Let rest again for 1h30.
13. Preheat the oven to 220 ° C.

Prepare the filling:

1. Arrange the vegetables on the surface of the focaccia: tomatoes, pepper or onion rings to represent the flowers, asparagus for the stems, basil, arugula or parsley leaves for the vegetation … not to add a little olive oil to make it stick well but there is already a lot of it on the surface.)
2. Add a little sesame seeds to the flowers.
3. In general, be creative!
4. Then bake the focaccia for about 15 minutes.
5. Let cool a little then add the flowers and fresh herbs before tasting.