Wednesday, October 1, 2008

No Fuss Focaccia

Usually on Tuesday nights I have class but my professor came down with a cold so she had to cancel class last night. That is good news for me, it means that I got to stay home and make a nice dinner for my husband and I. Unfortunately my husband had to work late and didn't get home until around 8:00. I didn't want to make something really heavy so I decided that soup and paninis would be a great dinner. I have some whole wheat sandwich bread in the house but I couldn't see myself making delicious paninis with boring ole sandwich bread. Hummm, guess I need to make bread. ;)

I found this recipe on King Arthur Flour's website, it had a couple of good reviews so I went ahead and made it. This is by far the easiest yeast bread recipe that I have ever made. There is virtually no work involved. No kneading, no shaping, definitely no fuss. I have made a traditional
focaccia before and it was amazing. I can't say that this was as good as Peter Reinhart's recipe but for being done in about two hours it was pretty darn good, especially made into a chicken bacon and ranch panini.


What is that delicious looking soup you ask yourself. It is this wonderful Baked Potato-and-Broccoli Soup. I have been hooked ever since I first made it last year.

Blitz Bread: No-Fuss Focaccia
Source:
King Arthur Flour

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) warm water
3 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) olive oil (plus additional for drizzling)
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 1/2 cups (14 3/4 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 tablespoon instant yeast
4 teaspoons Pizza Dough Flavor, optional
1/4 cup (1 ounce) Vermont cheese powder, optional
Pizza Seasoning, optional

Directions
1) Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan, and drizzle 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil in the bottom.
2) Combine all of the ingredients, and beat at high speed with an electric mixer for 60 seconds.
3) Scoop the sticky batter into the prepared pan, cover the pan, and let it rise at room temperature for 60 minutes, till it's become puffy.
4) While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 375°F.
5) Gently poke the dough all over with your index finger.

6) Drizzle it lightly with olive oil, and sprinkle with pizza seasoning, and/or the dried herbs of your choice, if desired.
7) Bake the bread till it's golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes.

8) Remove it from the oven, wait 5 minutes, then turn it out of the pan onto a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think even I could handle that! And that entire meal looks incredibly good.

MrsSchoon said...

Yum, looks so good! I have been dying to make focaccia.

Jade said...

I LOVE focaccia - and its pretty easy to make. Love that you made paninis with it. Looks so good :) especially at lunchtime.

Anonymous said...

I seriously LOOOVE focaccia and this one looks so tasty! with soup too?? Mmm...

Heather said...

Delicious! I might have to make that entire meal for football dinner on Sunday. Foccacia for paninis (turkey, probably), AND the soup! :)

Anonymous said...

Looks soooo good!! I can't wait to try it!

That Girl said...

Easy bread? I am all in!

Cate said...

This is a great recipe to keep in mind! Sometimes I crave focaccia, but the idea of waiting for it until the next day just seems like too much trouble.

Anonymous said...

I have never made this type of bread. You make it look so easy! I'm definitely going to try it.

deLa said...

it has almost been a year since i bought a stand mixer with the sole intent of learning how to make bread.

le sigh

Jessica said...

Mmmm, looks and sound great!

Maci said...

hey I awarded you the E for Excellent award, check out my blog for details! =)

Anonymous said...

Yum, looks great! At first I thought your soup was the same I made last night, sweet corn and pepper, until I read the post. I love paninis and would love to get a press, but I don't know if I'd use it enough...Thanks for the recipe!

Colleen said...

Hi Amber! I nominated you for an Excellent Award!

Cathy said...

I love this! thank you