Focaccia Bread Art

Have you seen the new trend in baking bread? Bakers are turning focaccia bread into beautiful works of bread art by layering on creative ingredients. Vineyard Baker on Instagram is the pro behind this new trend. Making focaccia bread art is not only fun for the whole family but it is delicious!

So since the world is in quarantine, I have been looking for fun projects to keep the kids and me busy. Abby, Brian’s daughter, loves to cook with her hands so this was the perfect fun project for us to do together.   

Start off with my easy focaccia bread recipe. Once the dough has risen, get your raw or pickled vegetables and fresh or dried herbs and get CREATIVE!

Here’s some suggestions:

• Red onions – thinly sliced to look like flowers
• Mini bell Peppers – sliced vertically to make big sunflowers!
• Chives  – Make great flower stems
• Green Onions –  Also make great flower stems or seaweed
• Parsley – Perfect for leaves
• Basil – Also great for leaves or seaweed
• Cherry or regular Tomatoes – Sliced in half makes great flower centers
• Olives – Rocks or centers of flowers
• Carrots- make the sun or flowers
• Capers – Also make great rocks or seed pods
• Rosemary – Small plants
• Thyme – Small plants
• Green Beans- makes great grass
• Pepperoni – can be shaped into fish or faces
• Shredded Parmesan – Sand or dirt

Ingredients 

• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 packet)
• 1/4 teaspoon honey
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

DIRECTIONS

1. In a cold medium skillet, combine olive oil, minced garlic, thyme, rosemary, and the black pepper. Place the skillet over low heat and cook, stirring occasionally, 5 to 10 minutes or until aromatic, but before the garlic browns. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine the warm water, yeast, and honey. Stir a few times then let sit for 5 minutes.
3. Add 1 cup of the flour and a 1/4 cup of the infused garlic-olive oil mixture to the bowl with yeast and honey. Stir 3 to 4 times until the flour has moistened. Let sit for another 5 minutes.
4. Stir in the remaining 1 1/2 cups of flour and the salt. When the dough comes together, transfer to a floured board and knead 10 to 15 times until smooth.
5. Transfer the dough to a large oiled bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and let rise for 1 hour. 
6. After 1 hour, heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
7. Use two tablespoons of the remaining garlic-olive oil mixture to oil a 9-inch by 13-inch rimmed baking sheet. 
8. Transfer the dough to the baking sheet then press it down into the pan. Use your fingers to create dimples in the dough then drizzle the top with the remaining 2 tablespoons of the garlic-olive oil mixture. Tip: Creating dimples with your fingers helps to prevent the dough from bubbling up while baking.
9. Let the dough rise for 20 minutes until it puffs slightly.
10. Now it is time to get creative! Grab your favorite colorful herbs, vegetables (fresh or pickled), and nuts and seeds. Decorate the dough with your ingredients, gently pressing down so they stay in place. Brush olive oil over the top.
11. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. 
12. Cool baked focaccia bread on a wire rack.

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Family Pizza Night

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Did someone say Pizza? Brian and I love making homemade pizza with the girls! 

Now of course, you can just go to the grocery store and buy the pre-made pizza dough but what’s the fun in that! While we practice the Stay at Home Order, get in the kitchen and make your own pizza dough. It’s super fun especially to do with loved ones! 

I have two recipes listed below; one for your regular pizza dough and one for deep dish pizza dough. They both are delicious!

Basic But Delicious Pizza Dough

Ingredients

• 1 cup warm water
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), plus some for bowl to rest dough
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 3 cups All purpose flour, plus more to roll dough

Mix 1 cup warm water with the package active dry yeast and let the yeast bloom and foam, 5 minutes. Add EVOO, honey and salt and whisk together. 

Whisk together the 3 cups of flour and salt. 

If you have a food processor, slowly pour the honey mixture, to the food processor and pulse until the dough comes together in a sticky ball, about 20 to 30 seconds. No food processor, no worries, you can use a rubber spatula! 

Place the dough onto a floured work surface and knead, using the heel of your hand, until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. This can totally count as your arm workout for the day!

Using a paper towel, pour a small amount of EVOO into a large bowl and coat the bottom and sides. Add the dough, turning to coat. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel. Let the dough stand until it is doubled in size, about ten minutes to one hour. The longer you allow it to stand and rise, the more flavor you will have.  I totally just sounded like Yoda! LOL! Okay back to the recipe. 

After ten minutes, plop the dough onto a floured cutting board. Punch the dough, literally, punch down on it and then puff it back up. 

We like to make several different types of pizzas so we usually make 3- to 4-inch mini pizzas. If you want just one big pizza, skip this next step. 

To make 3- to 4-inch mini pizzas, cut each dough ball into 4 piece wedges, then press or stretch into shape into a ball.

Want one big pizza? Press the dough out on the work surface into a 9 to 12 inch round, a long rectangle or an oval. Now if you used to work at a pizza place like Brian, you can get fancy and toss the dough up in the air. Or you can be like me and start at the center and work outwards, using your fingertips to press the dough to 1/2-inch thick.

Here’s a little tip: let the dough relax 5 minutes and then continue to stretch it until it reaches the desired diameter. 

Use your fingertips to press down and make dents along the surface of the dough to prevent bubbling. Brush the top of the dough with olive oil (to prevent it from getting soggy from the toppings). Let rest another 10-15 minutes.

Looking for Deep Dish?

Brian is from Chicgao and he absolutely loves Malnatis! So one night, we tried to recreate their famous pizza. I’m not saying we nailed it but we came pretty close! If you are looking for a Deep Dish Chicago style pizza, here you go!

Ingredients

• 3 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)
• ½ cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 and 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
• 2 and 1/4 teaspoons yeast (1 standard packet)
• 1 and 1/4 cups slightly warm water
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, divided (1/4 cup melted, 1/4 cup softened to room temperature)
• olive oil for coating

Combine the flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. If you do not have a stand mixer, use your hand mixer and a very, very large bowl. If you do not have any mixer, you can do this all by hand. 

Make sure you are using a LARGE bowl! The first time, we made this pizza dough, flour flew everywhere, which the girls and I turned into a flour food fight! I’m pretty sure Brian is still finding flour in places in his kitchen that flour should not be. 

Give those ingredients a quick toss with your mixer on low or with a large wooden spoon. 

Into the flour mixture, slowly pour the warm water and 1/4 cup of melted butter. Make sure it is not very hot or it will kill the yeast. Likewise, make sure the butter isn’t boiling hot. If you melt it in the microwave, let it sit for a few minutes before adding into the bowl. On low speed, beat (or stir) the dough ingredients until everything begins to be moistened. Continue on low speed (or remove from the bowl and knead by hand if you do not own a mixer), beat the dough until it is soft and gently pull away from the sides of the bowl and falls off of the dough hook- about 4-5 minutes. If the dough is too hard (it will be textured from the cornmeal), but if it feels too tough, beat in a teaspoon of warm water. Alternatively, if it feels too soft, beat in a tablespoon of flour.

Remove the dough from the bowl and form into a ball. Lightly grease a large mixing bowl with olive oil and place the dough inside, turning it around so that all sides of the dough are coated.  Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and allow it to rise for 1-2 hours or until double in size.

While we wait for the basic or deep dish dough to rise, we usually make the sauce but I’ll tell you more about the sauce soon, below.

After an hour, remove the dough and place it onto a floured surface. Roll it out into a 12-inch circle. You want to stretch it out as much as you can to make a large circle. The dough needs to be stretched out enough to cover the bottom and sides of the baking pan. Remember we are making a deep dish dough! 

Using a rolling pin as a guide, place over a 9×2-inch (23×5 cm) deep dish cake pan or cast-iron skillet. We use our cast iron. We love cast iron, check out my blog in the Tips & Tricks section and you’ll understand. : )

Using your fingers, press the dough into the skillet or pan. Make sure it is nice and tight fitting inside the pan. Trim any excess dough off the edges with a small knife. Brush the top edges of the dough with a little olive oil. 

Now for the sauce!

The sauce is just as important as the dough! Yes, you can buy the jar stuff but come on! Why not go all the way! I’m going to share with you my Sicilian Pizza sauce and then I’ll share with you the best replica Malnati’s sauce. 

Sicilian Sauce Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil 
• 2 tbsp butter 
• 1 1/2 tbsp onions, chopped
• 4 garlic, chopped
• 3 14 oz cans Italian tomatoes
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp tomato paste 
• 1 tbsp Italian herb
• 1 bay leaf

Best Replica Malnati’s Sauce Ingredients. 

• 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 small onion, grated (about 1/3 cup)*
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional, but recommended)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• one 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes*
• 1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar

Sicilian Sauce Directions

Melt the butter and the olive oil in a large heavy bottomed saucepan.

When all the butter is melted, add the onions and garlic, salt well, and saute over medium heat for about 7 – 8 minutes, until the onion rings begin to lose their shape and soften.

Add the canned tomatoes (with their juices) and bring to a simmer.

When simmering, reduce the heat and maintain a slow simmer for about two hours, stirring frequently.

Add the sugar, tomato paste and Italian herbs (if using dried herbs add now, if using fresh, add about 10 minutes before blending), stir and continue to simmer for about another hour.

Best Replica Malnati’s Sauce Directions

Place butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat and allow it to melt. Once melted, add the grated onion, salt, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Once the onion has slightly browned after about 5 minutes, add the garlic, tomatoes, and sugar. Turn the heat down to low-medium and allow it to simmer until it’s hearty, fragrant, and thick- about 30 minutes. You’ll have about 2 and 1/2 cups of sauce at this point. If you have more than that, keep simmering until the amount has reduced. Remove from heat and set aside until ready to be used. 

Now for the Pizza toppings, get creative! Brian and I have tried several combinations, I listed our favorites but honestly anything goes! 

Malnati’s Toppings

• ½-1 cup of Malnati’s sauce, or more depending on how thick you like your sauce 
• 2  cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
• Crumbled Italian sausage (about ½ lb)
• Thinly Sliced Pepperoni 

Margherita Toppings

• 1/4 to 1/3 cup pizza sauce
• 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• Parmesan cheese
• A few fresh basil leaves

Veggie Toppings 

• 1/4 to 1/3 cup pizza sauce
• 1 1/4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper 
• 1/2 cup chopped onion 
• 1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

Prosciutto Pizza

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup pizza sauce
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (6 ounces)
• 8 thin slices prosciutto
• A few big handfuls of arugula

Lemon Arugula- no red sauce for this one.

• EVOO, for drizzling
• 6 ounces grated fontina cheese
• 4 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, shredded
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 4-6 Prosciutto slices 
• 2 tablespoons white truffle oil
• 2 1/2 packed cups baby arugula
• Ground pepper, to taste
• Fresh lemon zest, for garnishing