Another Tasty Appetizer: Tomato and Onion Focaccia

 

As you probably know, one of our favorite appetizers is a home made genoa cheese bread. Making focaccia is a great way to satisfy a lot of people - it's easy and makes a lot. Plus, when you top it with the right flavors, you can make a real standout appetizer!

YiRan is getting really good at making the dough so she took the lead on this one, and did a great job. It comes together pretty quickly, with a simple combination of ingredients to top it, but the flavors compliment each other very well to create a wonderful appetizer.

Making the Dish
What You'll Need

2 packets active dry yeast
2.25 cups water
5.5 cups bread flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 large onion
2 cups tomato

Start by pulling together the dough and letting it rise. Combine 2 packets active dry yeast with 2 1/4 cups warm water. Not too hot, or the yeast will die. Let it sit till it starts to bubble as the yeast is activated. Combine the liquid with 5.5 cups bread flour, and 2 teaspoons of salt. Knead the dough and form it into a ball, then drop it into an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let it rise for about an hour in a warm place.

Herbie and Ellis investigate one another. 

While the dough is rising, add together your tomato, sliced onions, olive oil, and a touch of salt, and toss them together in a small bowl. Let them marinate together until the dough is done rising so that the flavors blend together nicely.

Sliced tomato and onion marinate together with olive oil and salt. 

When the dough has basically doubled in size, press it out and stretch it out until it's flat and round. Drain out the tomatoes and onions from the juices, and place them all over the dough until they cover the surface evenly.

Tomato, onion, salt, olive oil, and a touch of oregano are placed all over the dough. 

Drizzle olive oil and a touch of sea salt all over the top, and put it in the oven at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes. Turn the pan after 20 minutes so that it bakes evenly all over, and then bake for another 10 - 15 minutes until the bread is a nice, golden brown.

The Wine

We tried a the Campo Verde Barbera D'Asti to go with our meal this time. Barbera D'Asti is an Italian red wine made up of Barbera grapes. The Campo Verde was inexpensive but nicely drinkable, flavorful, and not too dry. We'd recommend it and would buy it again!


The Result
Pretty simple - just takes a bit of time for the dough to rise, but once you do, you have a nice, tasty, tomato and onion focaccia that can be a great starter for pretty much any dish.

Have a favorite appetizer? Let us know about it in the comments!