Onion Focaccia with Rosemary

Focaccia is an easy bread recipe to execute and you can top it with whatever herbs you have on hand. I used onion and rosemary in this version.

Oh fall. You’re finally here. Break out the sweatshirts and yoga pants! Another thing that the cooler weather wants me think of is baking bread. Hubby and I agreed that even though he got in to baking bread pretty regularly at the beginning of the year, that it just wasn’t smart to have the oven on that much during the summer. Hence all the ice cream I made this summer (and don’t worry, I eat ice cream year-round, so there’s more to come for sure).

To ease back into bread baking, I decided to go with a simple recipe. I’ve actually never made focaccia before even though it’s such an easy bread to make. I decided to go with a recipe from Lidia Colavita. It was very fitting since I was using Colavita olive oil in my focaccia. They had sent a couple samples a few months ago and while Hubby and I use olive oil regularly, I hadn’t found a recipe that really highlights the olive oil to share with you guys.

This Onion Focaccia with Rosemary is down-right addictive. I had to freeze half of it just so Hubby and I wouldn’t devour the whole thing in one day.

I used very thinly sliced red onion and rosemary on top, but you could easily use any herbs that you have on hand. I did take the advice in the comments of the recipe and mixed half of my onion and rosemary in to the dough during the second kneading. This helped to saturate the flavors throughout the bread. If you’re looking for an easy bread recipe to make this fall, look no further. Give this focaccia a shot.

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Onion Focaccia with Rosemary

Focaccia is an easy bread recipe to execute and you can top it with whatever herbs you have on hand. I used onion and rosemary in this version.

Yield: Serves 12-16

Ingredients:

2 cups warm water (105 degF to 115 degF)
2 tsp dry yeast

4 1/2 cups (about) all purpose flour
2 tsp salt

3 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium red onion, sliced thin
2 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

Directions:

Place 2 cups warm water in large bowl. Sprinkle dry yeast over; stir with fork. Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 10 minutes.

Add 4 1/4 cups flour and salt to yeast mixture and stir to blend well (dough will be sticky). Knead dough on floured surface until smooth and elastic, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls if dough is sticky, about 10 minutes. Form dough into ball. Oil large bowl; add dough, turning to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm area until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.

Punch down dough. Knead half of the rosemary and onions in to the dough. Shape into ball and return to same bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm area until doubled, about 45 minutes or less

Coat 15x10-inch baking sheet with 1 tablespoon oil (or line with a Silpat). Punch down dough. Transfer to prepared sheet. Using fingertips, press out dough to 13x10-inch rectangle. Let dough rest 10 minutes.

Drizzle 2 tablespoons oil over dough. Sprinkle remaining onions and rosemary evenly over the dough. Let dough rise uncovered in warm area until puffy, about 25 minutes.

Preheat oven to 475 degF. Press fingertips all over dough, forming indentations. Bake bread until brown and crusty, about 20 minutes. Serve bread warm or at room temperature.

Recipe adapted from Lidia Colavita, as seen in May 1995 Bon Appetit