Plum and Blue Cheese Focaccia
Plum and Blue Cheese Focaccia
Crispy on the outside, airy on the inside and full of flavor. The long cold proof creates beautiful airy bubbles, and a springy, delicious bread.
Yield: 1 x 12-inch loaf or 8-10 servings
Time: Active 25 minutes, passive 24+ hrs
Make this dough 1-2 days ahead of when you want to enjoy it.
Bread Ingredients:
3 ¼ cups all purpose flour (500g)
½ tsp salt
5g quick rise instant dry yeast
420 ml room temperature water (or a bit over 1 ½)
74 ml olive oil (5 tablespoons)
Coarse sea salt
Topping Ingredients:
1 ½ Sea Salt
1 ½ Tbsp honey
3-4 Tbsp crumbled blue cheese
4 small plums, pitted and halved, cut into large bites
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
Alternate toppings:
-Cherry tomatoes and basil
-Confit garlic cloves or shallot slices and rosemary
-Hot pepper slices and feta
*soak any produce in olive oil before adding to the top to prevent burning/drying out.
Instructions:
- Combine the flour, salt, and yeast in a large bowl and mix well. The bowl will need to be large to allow for the dough to rise to 2-3 times its original size.
- Add the room temperature water (must be slightly warm, not hot) and stir with a spoon until no dry flour remains. Add ⅓ of the olive oil and mix well, maybe kneading with your hands for 1-2 minutes, until the dough is infused.
- Cover tight with plastic wrap, then let rest at room temperature for 1 hour.
- Remove plastic wrap and, with oiled fingertips, fold the dough over itself by lifting, stretching and folding edge of dough toward the opposite side of the bowl.
- Turn the bowl and fold dough again; until you’ve made a full circle of folds around the bowl, and folded it over itself 4-6 times.
- Cover again and let sit on the counter for 15-20 minutes. Repeat the folding process, cover tightly again with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 hr or more.
You will know the dough is ready when it is alive with fermentation and it has puffed up to 2-3 times its original size.
Baking the Focaccia:
- Preheat the oven at least an hour ahead of time, to 500 F, with the rack in the middle.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 15 minutes.
- Dust the top of the dough with flour, then gently pour and scrape it onto a lightly-floured work surface. To shape the dough, hold it with floured hands and tuck the dough underneath itself, rotating it until it forms a tight ball.
- Pour the remaining olive oil into a 10 or 12-inch cast iron skillet (or any other heavy bottom oven safe receptacle, such as a shallow dutch oven) and coat the whole inner surface including the walls and rim with your fingertips.
- Transfer the dough to the pan, position the seam-side of the bread down. Drizzle the top with a touch of olive oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until dough is very soft and puffy and has filled the pan, for about 1 ½ hours.
- Using your fingertips, poke the surface of the dough all the way to the bottom with your fingers, to create little puckers or divots all over the bread; some bubbles may come up at this point.
- Pour the remaining olive oil over top of dough, then garnish with thyme, blue cheese, and add the pieces of the plum deep into some of the holes. Sprinkle with a generous amount of sea salt.
- Bake the focaccia for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Remove from the oven, drizzle with honey and perhaps more blue cheese while still hot.
- Let it cool in the pan for 5 minutes.
- Use a thin spatula to transfer the bread to a wire rack and cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting into it.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
This makes wonderful sandwiches, serve sliced as a side or an appetizer with oil and balsamic.
Use within 48 hours or freeze.
Local Source Guide:
Produce: Masstown Market, Stirling Fruit Farm Ltd., Noggins Corner Farm Market
Dairy: Masstown Creamery, That Dutchman’s Cheese Farm
Grocery: Valley Falxflour ltd., Maritime Seas Salt, Cornect Family Farm
Credits:
Recipe and Photography provided by: Jessica Emin, @eatwithjessie