Now this Artichoke Tomato Focaccia is more commonly known in my house as Antipasti Focaccia. We love this warm or at room temperature. Which makes this an ideal bake to take on a picnic. The bread is crisp on the outside and fluffy and bouncy on the inside. While the flavour of the Sun Dried Tomatoes and Artichoke Hearts as well as the Rosemary make this truly feel special. The smell of this baking alone would be enough to convince anyone to take a bite. So keep reading to find out how to make my Artichoke Tomato Focaccia.
Artichoke is a fairly new ingredient in my kitchen. It was actually at the tasting day for our wedding that we were served a vegetable tart, that was really an artichoke tart, that was truly delicious. Although all the food we tasted on that day was phenomenal. That day was a truly brilliant day. The texture of the Artichoke is something I didn’t expect to love. But love it, I do. The flavour of artichoke is interesting. I’ve been trying to best describe it, the best way is when it’s raw it has the green bitterness akin to asparagus almost. But once cooked the flavour diminishes so it is a blander flavour almost potato bland. The soft tender texture is what really makes it shine here.
I have done a lot of research and testing of focaccia. There are so many different schools of thought about how best to make focaccia. What kind of flour do you use? How much oil? Does the oil need to be extra virgin? How long do you proof for? What kind of tray or tin to bake in? Well, fear not I believe I have answered these questions. Now the question of oil, it does really add flavour to the focaccia. So use a good quality oil and yes extra virgin is best, however not entirely necessary. In fact I actually like to use the oil from the jars of artichoke hearts and sun dried tomatoes. This makes sure the flavour is throughout the bread and saves wasting that oil.
Moving to flour there are so many different people saying different things. Do you go plain, all purpose flour? How about using bread flour? Maybe try 00 flour. Or Italian extra strong flour (only found in Italy). Well when l used bread flour the focaccia was much chewier but had the strength to be filled with ingredients. The plain flour was much softer and if I was doing a rosemary and sea salt focaccia then I would maybe use that but here we need structure. So I have bread flour along with 00 flour which I believe gives enough soft chew with the structure to hold those ingredients.
This is one of my favourite bakes. If you are looking for your new favourite check out my Baking Section or try some of these:
Blueberry Almond Butter Muffins
White Chocolate Raspberry Cookies
Easy Pizza Dough
Turkish Delight
Pesto Swirl Tear and Share
Lemon Curd Buns
I really hope you love this Artichoke Tomato Focaccia, let me know what you think in the comments below. Share your pictures with me on social media use #CUBBintheKitchen to be featured in my stories.
Happy Eating!
Artichoke Tomato Focaccia
Ingredients
For the Bread
- 400 grams Strong White Bread Flour
- 350 grams 00 Flour
- 2 tsp Fine Salt
- 3 tsp Active Dried Yeast (9g)
- 100 ml Olive Oil or use oil from Artichoke and Tomato Jars
- 400 ml Warm Water
For the Flavours & Filling
- 25 g Fresh Rosemary 1 bunch
- 1 jar Artichoke Hearts in Oil
- 1 jar Sun Dried Tomatoes in Oil
- 2 tsp Flaky Sea Salt
- 30 ml Oil from Jars or Olive
- 30 ml Water
Instructions
- Make the DoughFirst you want to take out some of the tops of the sprigs of rosemary set aside for later. Take the leaves off the rest and finely chop the leaves.Put the both flours in a large mixing bowl or a stand mixer with a dough hook. with the salt finely chopped rosemary and the yeast. Mix to combine, then add the 100ml Oil, plus 300ml of the warm water. Stir together. You want to add the rest of the water slowly to get to a soft dough that is not overly wet and sticky. It is best to not add all the water rather than add more flour.Now knead the dough either on an oiled surface or in the stand mixer on a slow speed. It will take around 8 minutes in the mixer or 10 minutes by hand.Put the dough in a well oiled baking tin, mine is 35cm by 26cm cover and place in a warm pace for 1 hour until doubled in size.
- Filling TimeRoughly chop the Artichoke Hearts and Sun Dried Tomatoes.After the dough has risen, using your fingers press it out so that it is slightly too large for the tin and cover half with the Artichokes and Tomatoes.Fold over the top and seal by tucking under. Add Oil if the tin needs it. Then press out to fit the tin. Cover and let rise for 45 minutes in a warm place.
- Baking TimePreheat the oven to 200°C Fan.Take 30ml of Oil and 30ml Water and whisk together until emulsifed.Once the focaccia is risen pour over the Oil and Water and sprinkle with 2 tsp of Flaky Sea Salt. Then top with the Rosemary tops and any remaining Artichoke and Tomato pieces left.Bake for 35 minutes until golden brown and completely cooked.
