Pear, Grape and Blue Cheese Focaccia Bread

Focaccia bread is a thick Italian bread with a chewy airy interior. The top is layered with oven-roasted pears, red grapes, and blue cheese. This is perfect as an appetizer, as a side, or topped with arugula as a light meal. Either, way it tastes great!

Focaccia is an Italian flatbread that varies from region to region, but common trademarks include a thin crisp top, tender crumb inside that is filled with large holes (this is a really good thing in bread making) and baked in a rectangular shape.

In Northern Italy pizza is known as focaccia. In America, we know it as an appetizer or a bread to go with a meal. We commonly put all kinds of herbs (oregano, rosemary, etc.), salt, and olive oil on top. Occasionally you might find this bread with a side of marinara to dip it in. Focaccia is also used as sandwich bread in some stores. I personally think all ways are great. This is a super versatile bread!

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Toppings
• Instructions
• Recipe

Ingredients

The ingredients to make the dough are simple and pretty standard for bread making.

Dough

• Bread flour - Has a higher amount of protein and gluten than all-purpose flour. The result is an airy and chewy bread that is the trademark of focaccia bread.
• Yeast - For this recipe use dry active yeast.
• Olive oil - Extra virgin. Is there any other kind?
• Salt - I used sea salt from my table grinder. Use what you have on hand.
• Water - Focaccia has very high water content. I use regular tap water. However, you will want to ensure the water is cold. This is very different from most bread recipes -- and you read it correctly, use cold water per Paul Hollywood.
  

Toppings

Below are the toppings I used to make this bread. The toppings are very flexible and you can interchange them with different ingredients.

• Grapes - I recommend using red grapes. Once in the oven, they become roasted. The flavor intensifies and when you bite into the grape it will be between a grape and jam. Afterward, you will want to oven roast grapes all the time!
• Pear - I selected an Asian pear because they are my favorite and they were in stock. I recommend using your favorite variety. Once the pear has been roasted in the oven, much like the grapes, their flavor will intensify and the pear will soften. It is amazing!
• Blue cheese - There are many varieties of blue cheese. I used a smokey blue cheese, but that was because it was on sale. (The only better than blue cheese is affordable blue cheese!) For this, you can use any variety of blue cheese including gorgonzola or Stilton. I would pick the variety you prefer.
• Onion (optional)- I used red onion in the first batch of focaccia I made. When the onion is caramelized, the color is deep and I like that. However, all onions caramelize and I recommend using the variety you prefer or what you happen in your pantry.
• Honey - Provides a pop of sweetness to this bread and takes it to the next level.
• Arugula (optional) - The bitterness of the arugula balances out the sweetness of the bread. I put arugula on top of the bread and made it a light meal.
  

Instructions

For this bread recipe, I followed Paul Hollywood's dough recipe from the BBC site. This recipe is a great introduction to focaccia bread. However, once the dough was made, I modified the bread to make what I envisioned a great bread with wine would be.

I wrote the recipe with details here.

Ingredients:

How to make the dough...

• Place the flour, salt, dry active yeast, and olive oil in a large bowl. Note: Always place the salt and yeast on opposite sides before mixing. If placed next to each other the salt will kill the yeast.
  
• Add about half of the water and gently stir with a spoon. Gradually add in the rest of the water and begin mixing with your hands. In this stage, the dough is very wet and messy. Because of this, it is easier to work the dough in your bowl.
  
• Once the dough comes together and is less messy, remove it from the bowl and place it on a lightly oiled surface. Knead the dough for 7 - 10 minutes. It will be challenging at the start due to the water content. Note, that focaccia is a very wet bread (75% water to flour ratio). This wetness makes it messy to deal with in the early kneading stages.
  
• Return the dough to the bowl, cover, and leave to rise until doubled in size. The rise will take 1 - 2 hours. However, do not exceed two hours of rising.
  
• I recommend using a 9 x13 rimmed baking sheet or glass dish. It is important to note whichever dish you use will impact the baking time. When I used a sheet the baking time was 20 minutes. When I used a glass dish, the baking time was over 30 minutes. Whichever dish you use, grease with olive oil.
  
• Tip the dough out of the bowl and flatten the dough onto the prepared tray or dish by pushing the dough into the corners. Cover the dough with cling wrap or a shower cap. Let the dough prove for one hour.
  
• Once proofed, run your fingers over the dough creating dimples. Then drizzle the focaccia with olive oil and salt. The olive oil will fill in some of the bubbles that were created with your fingers. This is a good thing.
  
• Spread with your desired toppings. I made this bread a couple of times and each time I always use pear, grapes, and blue cheese. One time I used caramelized onions and another time I used rosemary. Honestly, they both tasted great and I think if you have a penchant for either one of those ingredients it's a great idea to add them.
  
• Once you have added the toppings, bake at 425 in the oven for 20 - 30 minutes. You will know when it is done by the golden brown color.

More Bread Recipes From my Site

• Easy Yeast Bread for Beginners
• Easy Bread Recipe
• How to Make Perfect Empanada Dough

Great British Baking Show Bake
Season 2, Episode 3, Technical - Focaccia
GBBO Count: 17 down, 263 to go!

Recipe