Italian Tomato Asiago Focaccia

All homemade breads are wonderful in my book, but Focaccia is one of those breads that is just heaven to bite into. This focaccia has extra Italian flavor from Italian seasoning and Asiago cheese baked right into the bread. Topped with sweet cherry tomatoes, Italian seasoning, a bit of garlic and coarse sea salt, the contrasting flavors and textures are so wonderful together.

I made this for my yoga/artist friends that I did the wine & design event with last Friday. After the art show was over, we had a little “after party” and one of my friends was bringing lobster bisque for all of us. We had a party in the furniture store, doing art, drinking wine and eating good food. Well, hey, if you’re going to have lobster bisque, you need some good bread to go with it! So I made focaccia. And everyone loved it. It was perfect with my friend’s lovely lobster bisque.

Italian Tomato Asiago Focaccia

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 1 hour
• Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
• Yield: 1 large focaccia 1x

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Ingredients

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For the dough:

• 2 cups bread flour
• 3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1 Tablespoon yeast
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 cup shredded Asiago cheese
• 3/4 – 1 cup water (enough to make a nice ball of dough)

For the top:

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon water
• 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
• Coarse sea salt
• Cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

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Instructions

1. Put the dough ingredients in the bread machine, set it on the dough setting and start. After a couple minutes, check the dough … is it starting to pull together into dough? If not, add just a bit of water and check again in a minute. I used about 1 cup of water.
2. While the dough is rising, in a small bowl, mix the olive oil, water, Italian seasoning and garlic. Set aside.
3. When the dough is done, spray a large pan with cooking spray. I used my jelly roll pan, which I think is about the right size to get a perfect-sized focaccia. I also preheated my oven to 170 F and then turned it off to make a nice warm “rising” area for my bread.
4. Push and stretch the dough out onto the pan, then sprinkle with sea salt, cover with a clean kitchen towel and let sit in a warm place for 30 minutes. Uncover and poke holes all over the bread with your finger … then drizzle the olive oil mixture over top and add the cherry tomatoes. Cover again and let it set for another 20 minutes.
5. Preheat the ovent to 390 F. Bake the focaccia for 20 – 25 minutes or until the top is a lovely golden brown.

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Notes

Cook time includes rising time, but not bread machine time (since bread machine cycle times vary).

RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/

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This recipe was shared at The Weekend Potluck, Mix it Up Monday, Recipe Sharing Monday, Melt in your Mouth Monday, Tuesday Talent Show and Totally Talented Tuesday.