Focaccia Art (Spring Focaccia with Vegetables)
Soft and fragrant olive oil Focaccia Art topped with vegetables. This focaccia is super easy to make, really fun to decorate and tastes absolutely delicious!
Equipment
- 40 x 25 cm (15 x 10 inces) baking tray
Ingredients
Focaccia dough
- 7 g instant dry yeast (1 satchel)
- 75 g water, warm (⅓ cup)
- 200 g plain white flour (1 ⅔ cups)
- 150 g strong white (bread) flour (1 ¼ cups)
- 50 g olive oil (3 tbsp)
- 8 g honey (1 tsp)
- 200 g water, tepid (¾ cup)
- 50 g olive oil (¼ cup)
- 1 tablespoon salt flakes
Vegetables
- 2 bell peppers, colourful
- 6 tender stem broccoli
- 8 cherry tomatoes
- 5-6 asparagus
- 1 tablespoon sweet corn
- 1 tablespoon green peas
- 1-2 sprigs thyme / parsley / basil
- 1 tablespoon sunflower or pumpkin seeds
Instructions
- In a small bowl, add the warm water and the yeast. Mix it with a spoon until it dissolves. Add the honey in and let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes to activate.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the plain white flour with the strong bread flour and the salt.
- Make a well in the middle of the flour and add the yeast mixture, the olive oil and the rest of the water.
- With a wooden spoon or spatula mix the wet and dry ingredients until you form a sticky dough.
- Gently flour your work surface and start kneading your dough. Add a little flour so the dough doesn’t stick to your hands, but be careful not to add too much, so the dough doesn’t become too dense.
- Knead for about 10 minutes until the dough becomes smooth and bounces back when you press on it with your finger.
- Grease a large bowl with olive oil and place your dough in. Sprinkle the dough with a little olive oil too, then cover with cling film and let prove for 1 hour or until it doubles in size.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, place it in a lined and greased baking tray. Using your fingers, gently push the dough into the tray to deflate some air and stretch it to cover the entire surface.
- Use your fingers to create the traditional focaccia dimples. Cover with cling film and let it sit while you prepare the vegetables.
- You can choose from a variety of fresh vegetables to decorate the focaccia with - basically anything goes. Cut some in thin strips, others in smaller cubes, and keep some larger in size for variety.
- Arrange the vegetables to form a spring landscape. You can use yellow and orange peppers for the sun, asparagus and spring onions for the trees and cherry tomatoes, sliced mushrooms and curly parsley for flowers. Once you’re happy with your decoration sprinkle generously with olive oil, thyme and sea salt.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C (390°F) fan-assisted for 15 minutes. After this, turn the focaccia around in the oven to prevent burning and bake for a further 10 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Once ready, let it cool slightly on a wire rack, then serve whilst still warm. Enjoy!
Notes
- I recommend using a kitchen scale in grams for more accuracy. The cups used for the conversion are standard US customary cups (1 cup flour = 136g). There are many different types of cups across the globe, which is why I strongly recommend using grams instead.
- Storing: you can store any remaining focaccia in the fridge for up to 2 days, or you can wrap it in cling film and freeze for up to 3-4 weeks. Just reheat it in the oven after thawing it.
- Vegetables: you can use any vegetables you like. Do not overload the focaccia with too many vegetables, however, as it can make the dough harder to bake and remain under-baked.
Nutrition
Calories: 210kcal
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