Cherry Tomato Focaccia with Rosemary & Parmesan
Bursts of sweet cherry tomato with fragrant rosemary on a light and chewy crust – Cherry Tomato Focaccia with Rosemary & Parmesan is a great snack, or have it for lunch, or serve it with salad for a light dinner.
I love focaccia. But what’s not to love? Light and chewy crust judiciously topped with just a few tomatoes and herbs makes the perfect snack or lunch. The key to a good focaccia is, of course, a light and chewy crust. But it’s also important to control the urge to add more and more toppings. It’s not a pizza after all.
To achieve a light and chewy crust you’ve got to make a fairly wet dough and knead it for 20 minutes or so to develop the gluten. You can see from the photo below how wet and stretchy the dough is. Compared to my pizza dough recipe, this focaccia dough has more water and I also added just a little whole wheat flour for flavor.
We get lots of “Sungold” cherry tomatoes in our farm share. Sungolds are unbelievably sweet and juicy and taste so good in this Cherry Tomato Focaccia. Of course you can use any good cherry or grape tomato that’s available to you. Rosemary is traditional on a focaccia and it tastes great with tomatoes. I like the crunch of flaky sea salt as a finishing touch. I added a few Parmesan shards after baking because, well, because a little Parmesan is almost always a good thing.
You might also like to try making Homemade Pita Bread. It’s surprisingly easy!
Cherry Tomato Focaccia with Rosemary & Parmesan
Ingredients
Focaccia Dough
- 14 oz warm water (1 ¾ cups)
- 1 teaspoon dry yeast (not rapid rise)
- 20 oz all purpose flour (4 cups, see note)
- 1 ¼ oz Whole Wheat Flour (¼ cup)
- 2 oz olive oil (¼ cup)
- 1 ½ teaspoons table salt
Toppings
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 pints cherry tomatoes
- 1 scant tablespoon roughly chopped fresh rosemary (from about 1 large or 2 small sprigs)
- 1 teaspoon flaky sea salt
- Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Combine 14 oz warm water and 1 teaspoon dry yeast add 2 cups of the all purpose flour and mix to combine. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and rest the batter for 20 minutes.
- Add 1 ¼ oz Whole Wheat Flour, 2 oz olive oil and 1 ½ teaspoons table salt. Switch to the dough hook and add the remaining all purpose flour. Knead on medium low speed for 20 minutes. The dough will be quite sticky but should also be very stretchy.
- Scrape the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat the dough. Cover and set aside in a warm place to double in volume, about 1½ - 2 hours. Preheat the oven to 450 °F.
- Lightly oil a 1/2 sheet pan with olive oil. Carefully place the risen dough onto the oiled pan and flip it over to coat the dough with a film of oil. Use your fingers to spread the dough to about a 1/2" thick square or rectangle. Allow the dough to rise for about 1 hour until a finger poked in the dough leaves a dimple.
- Use your fingers to dimple the top of the dough all over. Press 2 pints cherry tomatoes into the dough, spacing them evenly over the focaccia. Brush with2 tablespoons olive oil, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon flaky sea salt and 1 scant tablespoon roughly chopped fresh rosemary.
- Bake for about 20 minutes until puffed and golden brown. Transfer the focaccia to a cutting board, brush with remaining olive oil. Use a vegetable peeler to create shards of Parmesan over the top of the warm focaccia.
- Serve warm or room temperature.
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I have never tried making Focaccia, it looks delicious so I must give this a go
It’s really tasty and versatile, Alison. You can use any herb and veggie you like on top.
Delicious. I know how wet the dough Focaccia has to be in order to get the characteristic tenderness from the bread. It seems like it will never come together, but it magically does. Yours looks perfect.
Thanks, Kimberlie. It is fun to make and even more fun to eat!