Roasted Vegetable Focaccia

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Welcome to the world of focaccia my friends! If you’ve never made it, or are already a pro, focaccia is a delicious way to get into bread baking.

WHAT IS FOCACCIA?

Focaccia is a fluffy, flat oven-baked Italian bread. The texture and flavor are similar to pizza dough. It’s typically topped with herbs, olive oil, and salt. The dough comes together very quickly in a stand mixer, fitted with the dough hook attachment. I like using a stand mixer here, because this is a fairly wet dough. If I were to knead the dough by hand, I’d end up adding too much flour, which results in a dense end product.

How do you make Roasted Vegetable Focaccia?

Start by mixing up the dough in the bowl of a stand mixer. This super simple focaccia dough only has 5 ingredients and can be made, start to finish, in about 3 hours.

We’re using room temperature water, unbleached all purpose flour, dry active yeast, kosher salt, and olive oil.

Knead the dough with the dough hook attachment, and let the dough ferment at room temperature for about 1 1/2 hours, until it has nearly doubled in size.

We’re baking this simple focaccia in a 9×13″ baking pan. Make sure to drizzle plenty of olive oil on the bottom and sides of the pan. This will ensure a crispy bottom crust and crispy edges.

Once the dough has proofed at room temperature again, use your fingertips to really dimple the dough. I let my fingers actually poke through the dough to the bottom of the pan. This will give you that signature focaccia texture that we all know and love.

Finally, arrange all of your vegetables on top, don’t be shy. I like the press the fresh herbs and vegetables down into the dough as well. And then, another drizzle of olive oil, and flakey sea salt to top it all off.

Bake this Roasted vegetable Focaccia at 450 degrees F for about 30 minutes or until the top is deeply golden brown, and the vegetables are slightly charred.

Ingredients

unbleached all purpose flour – I use unbleached all purpose flour from King Arthur Baking Company. It has a higher protein content than most AP flours. You could use bread flour if that’s what you have.

water – I use water that’s about 85 degrees F, slightly warmer than room temperature. It’s important that the water is not too hot, otherwise it will kill the yeast, and your bread won’t rise properly. A lot of the tap water in the US is treated with chemicals like fluoride and chlorine, which can negatively affect the rise of our dough. To avoid this, I prefer to use filtered spring water for all of my bread baking.

salt – I use Morton’s kosher salt in all of my bread recipes. If you are using Diamond Crystal, add another 4 grams of salt.

yeast – I use dry active yeast in this recipe, and my favorite brand is Red Star Yeast for its consistent and professional results. I mix the dry active yeast with the warm water to activate it, or “wake it up.” Also, I always store my yeast in the fridge to prolong its shelf life.

Full Video Tutorial

Head to Instagram for the full tutorial @lions.bread. Follow along for more tutorials just like this!

Be sure to check out Sourdough Baguettes, Lion’s Bread Original Challah, and Same Day Country Loaf

If you love this recipe, please leave a rating and comment below. Want to save this focaccia recipe? Hover over any of the images, and tap the Pin It button to save it to your favorite Pinterest boards.

Print

Roasted Vegetable Focaccia

Fluffy, crispy focaccia baked perfectly with garden fresh vegetables and herbs

Course bread

Cuisine Italian

Keyword Bread, crusty bread, focaccia, roasted vegetables

Prep Time 3 hours

Cook Time 30 minutes

Author LeAnne Shor

Ingredients

Dough

• 1 1/3 cups plus 1 tablespoon water at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons dry active yeast
• 1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 3 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt

Topping

• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes
• 1 red onion sliced
• 3-4 sweet mini bell peppers
• 1/4 cup fresh oregano
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 1-2 fresh scallions
• 1 zucchini sliced thinly
• 1 teaspoon flakey sea salt

Instructions

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine the water and dry active yeast. Use a fork or whisk to combine. Add the olive oil, flour and salt to the bowl. Mix on low speed for 2 minutes until the dough comes together. Stop the mixer, and scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula. Place a kitchen towel over the bowl, and let the dough rest for 5 minutes. Continue on medium speed, until the dough forms a ball and comes away from the sides, then mix for another 2-3 minutes.

2. The dough should be smooth at this point. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and let rise at room temperature for 1-1 1/2 hours or until nearly doubled in volume.
3. Prepare an 9x13” baking pan. Drizzle 1-2 teaspoons of olive in the bottom of the pan, and use your fingers or a pastry brush to coat the bottom and sides of the pan completely, set aside.
4. Pour the dough out into the prepared baking pan. Use your hands to stretch the dough out into a rectangle-ish shape to fit the pan, and use your fingers to stretch it out, making sure to get into the corners.
5. Cover with a clean kitchen towel, and let proof at room temperature for 40-45 minutes until the dough is puffy, and slightly jiggly. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
6. Drizzle another 2 teaspoons of olive oil on top of the dough. Use your fingers to dimple the surface of the dough really well for that signature focaccia look.
7. Arrange the fresh vegetables on top of the focaccia dough. Sprinkle the flakey sea salt all over. Bake for 35-40 minutes until the top is deeply golden brown. Allow to cool slightly, then enjoy! Note: Focaccia is best eaten the same day, but any leftovers can be stored in the fridge, and reheated in a toaster oven or a 350° F oven for 10 minutes.

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