Cheese and Onion Focaccia

Cheese and Onion Focaccia

Easy tasty family meal ideas…

Transform your evening meal or lunch time menu with one of these amazing focaccias. So simple to make and yet incredibly tasty. I have used cheese and onion but the possibilities are endless. My daughter made hers with cheese and bacon which also worked well. I was thinking left over haggis might be an idea with onion and some chutney on the side? I have also used this recipe with butter, olive oil, garlic and cheese for a cheesy garlic bread.

I always use a bread machine to make my dough, but if you are a hands on bread maker then go for it…

YOU WILL NEED

210ml water

15ml olive oil

350g unbleached white bread flour - choose the best you can afford, its all about the ingredients

2.5ml of 1/2 tsp salt

5ml or 1 tsp of sugar

5ml or 1 tsp of easy-blend dried yeast

1oz of chopped red onion

2oz of crumbled vintage cheddar or similar

15ml or 1tbsp of fresh sage or similar herb

METHOD for water first bread machines.

Pour the water and the oil into the bread pan.

Sprinkle over the flour, ensuring that it covers the water properly.

Add the salt and sugar in separate corners.

Make a small indent in the centre of the flour and add the yeast to it.

Set to the dough setting and start.

Lightly oil a 10 inch shallow round cake tin or a pizza pan/plate. Once the bread machine has finished remove the dough and knock back on a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle over the chopped onion and the crumbled cheese and gently knead it to incorporate it into the dough, if you want to add herbs now is the time to do it. Shape the dough into a round ball, flatten it and roll it out to the size of your prepared pan.

Place the dough in the pan, cover and set aside in a warm place for about 20-30 mins to allow the dough to rise. After that time uncover the dough and using your fingertips poke the dough to make deep dimples over the surface. Cover and leave to rise for a further 15 minutes, or until the dough has doubled in size. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. When the oven is hot and your dough is well risen drizzle over some good quality olive oil filling up the dimples with a little oil. Finely slice more onion and sprinkle over the top along with some coarsely ground sea salt and some black pepper. Bake for 20-25 minutes until its golden in colour then turn out onto a wire rack to cool slightly, Best served warm.

Leave some comments below with your ideas of toppings.