Homemade Focaccia with Cherry Tomatoes and Caramelized Shallots – Recipe!

Making Homemade Focaccia with Cherry Tomatoes and Caramelized Shallots can be such delicious fun at home and doesn’t require much work.  This soft and lofty dough bakes into a gorgeous sheet of golden bread that’s fantastic to eat with soups, salads, stews or slicing in half for sandwiches.

It starts by combining simple pantry ingredients like flour, yeast, salt and water in a big bowl with your hands until shaggy.  It doesn’t need to be perfect, just make sure you get any dry bits from the sides and bottom of the bowl.  I enjoy making bread on the weekends because you have a bit more time and there’s nothing like the smell of something in the oven when you’re at home.

I topped this focaccia with sliced cherry tomatoes and caramelized shallots that I cooked in some olive oil, while the bread was proofing.  I sprinkled the focaccia with Maldon salt over top for a salty crunch to finish, before I baked it in a hot oven.  It’s a real treat to slice and serve with almost any meal and it will save for a few days to use in lunches, or toast for breakfast.  I recommend buying a small kitchen scale to weigh your flour and other ingredients before baking.

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Ingredients

600 grams bread flour

600 grams all-purpose flour

28 grams salt

1 1/4 tablespoons rapid rise yeast

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

40 grams olive oil + more for bowl and topping

1 kilogram lukewarm water

1 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

4 shallots

1 tablespoon Maldon salt or topping

salt and pepper for cooking

(Serves 12-16)

To Prepare:

1. In a large bowl, combine flours, salt, and sugar.  Make a well in center.
2. Add 40 grams olive oil and water, using hands – combine until shaggy dough – about 4 minutes.
3. Add 3 tablespoons olive oil to a deep 10 x 13 pan and spread around with fingertips to coat bottom and sides of pan.
4. Pour dough into pan and using damp hands, press to edges.  Drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil and dimp around top of bread.
5. Cover with kitchen towel and let rise for 3 hours in a warm dry place (I use my microwave).
6. While dough is proofing, saute shallots in 2 teaspoons olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper, set aside to cool.
7. Remove towel and dimple with damp fingertips, try not to deflate.  Top with cherry tomatoes and shallots.  Drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil and Maldon salt.
8. Bake for 3040 minutes or until focaccia is golden brown on top.  Remove and cool to room temperature before slicing.  Enjoy!