FOCACCIAS. IT'S A PARTY.

Every queen needs her alliances. Every palace needs a party, and palace parties require lots of cheese and wine along with these focaccia stunners.

The trick to these events is to start out classy, adulty even. Then, you trash that all together, and whip out your early 2000’s party playlist for everyone to sing along to at the top of their voices. Your living room is now a karaoke bar (can I just say, my neighbours are saints). How did this happen? Probably the wine, the focaccia’s are innocent.

These look great on a table, couple with a variety of cheese, and wine.

So, shall we say the focaccia’s are part of the adult side of the evening? Nothing is easier and more fun to make. So it’s like a party in your kitchen before the party even starts. You can get really creative with the toppings, and they look damn impressive when your guests arrive.

I made two versions that turned out great. The one was caramelized onions and feta, and the other cherry tomatoes. Both these toppings were complimented by a herby olive oil mixture with lots of basil and garlic, which essential to making a good focaccia.

Focaccia's before they're being baked in the oven.

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Recipe

For the dough, I used my tried and tested pizza dough recipe, and let it rise for an hour. The below ingredients will give you ONE focaccia.

Ingredients

The dough

1/2 cup lukewarm water

1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast

1/2 teaspoon honey

1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon of salt

Toppings

For the herby olive oil:

Good amount of olive oil

3 sprigs of thyme

Handful of fresh basil

2 cloves of garlic

The rest you can do with what you please. Mine used:

Cherry tomatoes

1 Red onions

1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

1 tsp brown sugar

1 wheel of Feta Cheese

Instructions

The dough:

1. In a cup, mix together the lukewarm water, yeast and honey. Let that sit and get foamy. It takes about 7 min or more.

2. In a large bowl, measure out your flour and salt, and add the yeast mixture once it’s ready.

3. Stir the mixture so that it comes together, first using a spoon, and then using our hands. If the mixture is really sticky, add a little bit more flour.

4. Transfer the dough ball onto a lightly dusted surface, and start kneading. This is a really important step to make sure that your yeast and all the ingredients is thoroughly worked through. So, get your back in there!

5. Place dough ball in an oiled oven dish, or pizza stone (if you have one). Using your fingers, spread the focaccia dough so it covers the base of the dish (or pizza stone) evenly.

6. Leave to rise for about an hour in a warm space. The dough must double its size.

While the dough is rising make start prepping your toppings:

Toppings:

Herby olive oil mixture

In a bowl add chopped basil leaves and thyme sprigs as well as minced garlic. Drizzle a generous amount of olive oil over the herbs and leave it to infuse.

Caramelized onions and feta:

In a pan fry red onions in olive oil on medium heat, until soft and translucent. Stir in sugar and balsamic vinegar, fry until sticky.Crumble feta cheese

Cherry tomatoes:

Cut in half

Assembling the focaccia:

1. Take your herby olive oil and spread it over the dough

2. Add your toppings

3. Drizzle another bit of olive oil and sprinkle some salt on top.

4. Bake in the oven for 30 min or until golden brown at 200°C.

5. Allow focaccia to cool before serving

Prepare for absolute carnage