I don't serve bread often with our meals, but from time to time I love to serve buttery rolls, sliced crispy baguette or most recently this yummy herbed focaccia. It takes a little bit of time, but is super easy, almost fool-proof and absolutely a perfect addition to many meals and delicious sliced in half and utilized to make a fantastic sandwich!
This is a very versatile recipe so if you don't want to add the Italian herbs then don't or switch it up. Herbs de Provence is a great substitution and instead of using sliced cherry tomatoes, try sliced olives, artichokes or sliced onions. But whatever you do, the next time you'll probably end up doubling the recipe as this stuff disappears quickly!
Herbed Focaccia
Ingredients
_______________________________________________________________
- 3 1/2 C all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbs active dry yeast
- 1 1/2 C warm water*
- pinch of sugar
- 2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 Tbs dried Italian herbs
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 3 cherry tomatoes thinly sliced
- Cornmeal for dusting
Directions
- In a large bowl combine 1/2 C warm water*, sugar and sprinkle in the yeast. Stir and allow to begin to bubble a little. It should become a little frothy on top, then add 1 C of the flour and combine. Sprinkle the remaining flour on top of the mixture, but do not stir in. Place in warm area and allow the yeast mixture to rise until it rises up through the flour, approx 30-60 minutes.
- Add the remaining warm water, olive oil, salt and herbs, stirring to combine. Turn out onto a floured work surface and knead 5 minutes, until smooth and elastic. It should be very soft and a little bit sticky. Shape into a ball and place in an oiled bowl, coating the dough well with additional olive oil. Allow to rise in a warm area until doubled in volume.
- Punch down the dough and divide into two equal pieces. Shape into balls and place on heavily floured surface at least 6 inches apart. Brush the tops with olive oil and allow to rise until doubled in volume.
- Stretch and shape each ball into 10-inch disks and place on a heavy baking sheet that has been dusted with cornmeal. Prick the dough all over with a fork. Press fingers into dough making dimples throughout. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and adding thinly sliced cherry tomatoes and little leave/torn sprigs of thyme to adorn. Lastly drizzle sparingly a little olive oil on each loaf. Bake in a preheated 450F oven for about 20 minutes, until golden brown.
- Cool on a wire rack. Makes two 10-inch loaves, to serve 6-8
*Tips*
__________________________________________________________
*Warm water should be the temp one would run for a baby's bath.
with hot chicken broth added to smooth everything out. The plates were cleaned just about as fast as it took to create. Now on to homework and baths...
Italian Meatballs 
. Toss in chicken and thoroughly coat with oil/seasoning mixture. Heat remaining oil in 
over med high heat. Add chicken when oil is heated and begins to glisten. While chicken is cooking, heat stock in a large glass 
to boiling in the microwave. Brown chicken slightly, do not cook through. Remove chicken from pan and set aside. Add onion to skillet and saute for 1 min. Combine pasta with onion and pour in hot chicken stock cooking on med-high heat until pasta is cooked through, 10-12 minutes depending upon pasta (we like Barilla whole wheat). When pasta is al dente, add heavy cream, zest the lemon into pan and then squeeze the juice from the lemon right into pan as well. Add chicken and collected juices to pasta mixture and cook through 2-3 minutes. Season with kosher salt to taste. Top off with capers and parsley. Enjoy!
or 
puree mixture until smooth. Take particular caution when blending hot liquids. Add pureed sauce back to pan and season with kosher salt, red pepper flakes, and basil chiffonade. Heat on low for 10 minutes. Serve over pasta, over toast topped with a fried egg (Eggs in Purgatory), or add meatballs and serve on an Italian loaf. Serves 6. 
