Focaccia Pizza

A fun pizza recipe that you can bake in the oven and cook for a crowd! It's a pizza focaccia hybrid and I've re-tested my existing focaccia recipe to give you an 'overnight method' option where you can prep the dough the day before and let it prove overnight in your fridge. I've kept my toppings simple with just fresh buffalo mozzarella and basil on top, but feel free to play around with your favourite toppings and flavour combinations.

Makes- 1 large pizza focaccia 30 x 20cm. Serves 8+

Ingredients- 11

Cooking Time- 40 mins, plus 3 hour rising time or 1 hour + overnight proofing

Skill Level- Easy

Ingredients

• 2.5 cups (625ml) of warm tap water

• 2 teaspoons (5g) of honey or sugar

• 7g (2.5 teaspoons) of dry active yeast

• 625g (5 cups) of plain flour, sifted

• 1 tablespoon (15g) of salt

• ¼ cup of olive oil, plus extra for greasing the tray

• ½ cup of pizza sauce. I’ve used Leggos Pizza Passata

• 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese

• 1 generous pinch of flakey salt

• 8 basil leaves

• 1-2 balls of buffalo mozzarella

Method

I’ve tested two methods that can work for this focaccia. You can make it the day of consuming, preparing the dough 4 hours prior or you can make the dough the day before, allowing it to rest in the fridge overnight from 10-24 hours. The below method will cover both options.

1. Fill a medium bowl with the warm water (40 degrees, body temp) and dissolve your honey/sugar into the water. Sugar helps activate the yeast, giving it something to feed on.

2. Whisk in your yeast and then allow to stand for 10 minutes or until you start seeing the top of the mixture start to become creamy, frothy and bubbly.

3. Meanwhile, place your flour and salt into a large bowl and mix.

4. Pour your yeast mixture into the bowl with the flour and salt and use a spatula to mix until you get a rough, shaggy dough.

For overnight focaccia

1. 1. Cover the dough in the bowl with plastic wrap and allow it to rest on your bench for at least 20 minutes before placing it into the refrigerator overnight. Allow at least 10 hours in the fridge and up to 48 hours.

   2. 1 hour before baking, pull out the dough to come to room temperature.

For day of focaccia

1. 1. Generously oil a large dish or pot and then transfer your dough into it. Now gather up edges of the dough farthest from you and lift up and over into the center of the tray. Give the tray a quarter turn and repeat the ‘stretch and fold’ process for a few revolutions. Cover with a tea towel or lid and allow to rest in a warm spot for about 3 hours or until doubled in size.

Baking the focaccia

5. Generously grease a large baking tray (30 x 20cm) and then transfer your dough to the tray. Again do some ‘stretch and folds’ to your dough for another few revolutions and then use your fingers to gently spread the dough out in the pan. Allow to rest for another 30 minutes to an hour until the dough has expanded to the entire surface of the pan.

6. Preheat your oven to 220 degrees celsius (fan forced).

7. Add pizza passata and use the back of a spoon to spread it all over the focaccia. Make dimples all over your dough with your fingers to infuse the sauce into the dough. 

8. Top with shredded mozzarella cheese and then bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or until fully cooked in the centre and golden brown on the outside.

9. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before transferring to a board.
10. Top with freshly torn buffalo mozzarella pieces and basil. I placed eight basil and mozzarella slices equally apart so that when I go to cut 8 slices, each slice looks identical.

11. Enjoy!

Watch the process

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by JESSICA NGUYEN- COOK & CREATIVE (@jessica_nguyen_)