Ever had that feeling where you can’t decide between two classic Italian bread dishes? Me too! So I decided to make Focaccia Pizza to combine two of my favorite things in a single dish. The soft, spongy focaccia bread underneath with a classic pizza topping makes for a fantastic summer side dish at a pot luck or barbecue. But I also sometimes eat it as a main dish for dinner, with just a salad on the side.
What is Focaccia Pizza?
Focaccia is a soft Italian bread, enriched with plenty of olive oil. Classic pizza dough usually yields a crust which is chewier and with crunchy edges, but crucially, pizza also has a topping. Most, although not all pizza toppings include tomato sauce and mozzarella, and you can also add on whatever else you like – pepperoni, salami, anchovies, fresh herbs, pineapple (controversial!), mushrooms, bell peppers, etc.
What we do in this recipe is to use a classic soft focaccia dough, enriched with olive oil, but add on those classic toppings for a pizza.
Ingredients and Toppings
The ingredients for the focaccia are very standard and simple. The one thing that is different is that I use the brine from my mozzarella in place of some of the water. This adds an extra boost to the bread flavor.
And when it comes to the toppings, you can use whatever you like. Here, I used a classic marinara sauce with pepperoni and mozzarella, finishing it off with a little fresh basil at the end. But feel free to swwitch this out for whatever your favorite pizza topping is.
Making Yeasted Doughs
I don’t make a lot of yeasted breads, because I always have it in my head that they’re difficult. I don’t know why – every time I do make them, they turn out great and it’s not hard at all. Fortunately, focaccia is one of the most forgiving yeasted bread doughs there is. It’s quite wet – deliberately so – which means that regular kneading is not really on the cards anyway. So really, you’re just mixing the ingredients together, and leaving it to rise.
Kneading and Rising
About 20 minutes after mixing, I lift the dough out of the bowl and stretch it out, folding it over and back on itself. This is a technique known in sourdough baking as “stretch and fold” and it develops the gluten a bit without having to knead. You can skip this step if you want, like I said earlier, focaccia is a very forgiving dough and the recipe will still be fine. But it will make handling the dough a little bit easier later on.
After that, cover the bowl with a cloth or an upturned plate and leave it at room temperature until it has about doubled in volume. The exact length of time this will take depends on the ambient temperature, but probably somewhere between 60-90 minutes.
Assembling Focaccia Pizza
Once risen, you’re ready to assemble it. Oil a baking dish with olive oil and dump out the dough into it. Wet your hands to stop the dough sticking to them, and stretch it out gently to the edges. Dot over half the mozzarella, and smear over the tomato sauce. Scatter on the pepperoni and the rest of the mozzarella and drizzle with a little more olive oil.
The dough will continue to rise all the time, so you need to bake it quite soon. It will be fine sitting around for up to 30-40 minutes or so while the oven preheats, but no longer than that. Then it’s just a matter of popping it in the oven. Focaccia bakes quite quickly, so I recommend checking on it after just 20 minutes, especially if your oven runs hot.
Storage Notes
The focaccia pizza keeps very well into the next day, or even a little longer. I would leave it at room temperature in the baking dish and cover with plastic wrap. It can either be eaten as it is or toasted, or reheated in the oven. Be careful not to burn the cheese if reheating, though – it can catch quite easily. If you want to store it any longer, I suggest refrigerating it, though it will probably dry out a little in the fridge. In truth, it’s never been necessary for me to chill it, because we always eat it so fast!
And More…
Looking for more flavored bread recipes? Try one of these:
- Braided Nutella Bread
- Strawberry Rhubarb Bread
- Buckwheat Banana Bread
- Healthy Blueberry Zucchini Bread
- Garlic Ciabatta Bread
Conclusion
Focaccia or pizza tonight? No need to choose! Try my Focaccia Pizza recipe and get the best of both worlds. And if you’re nervous about yeasted breads, this is a great one to start out with. It’s almost impossible to end up with something that’s not tasty. Let me know in the comments how you get on and what toppings you like on your pizza.
Focaccia Pizza
Ingredients
- 1 lb bread flour
- 10 oz buffalo mozzarella in brine
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp fresh yeast
- warm water
- 1/2 tsp salt (or more)
For the topping
- 5 oz marinara sauce
- 1 oz pepperoni or salami sliced
- 1 sprig fresh basil
Instructions
- Pour the mozzarella brine into a measuring jug and add enough warm water to bring it up to 1 1/2 cups.
- Add the yeast and stir to dissolve, then add the olive oil.
- Combine the liquid ingredients with the flour and salt and stir to a shaggy mass. Cover, and leave for 20 minutes.
- With wet hands, stretch the dough out a few times and fold it back on itself. Cover again and leave to rise until approximately doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Turn the dough out into an oiled baking pan and stretch it gently to the edges. Stipple with your fingertips to create dimples.
- Add half the mozzarella, torn into pieces, then spread the marinara sauce out roughly over the top. Scatter over the pepperoni slices and finish with the remaining mozzarella. Drizzle with olive oil and season with black pepper and sea salt.
- Bake for about 25 minutes until the dough is risen, puffed and golden brown.
- Leave to cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes before turning out and slicing into squares. Scatter with basil leaves and eat hot or cold.
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