Food & Wine USA - (08)August 2019

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Focaccia col Formaggio

ACTIVE 30 MIN; TOTAL 3 HR 50 MIN
SERVES 6

This elastic dough is easy to work with and
can be made in advance and chilled over-
night after kneading. Fine-milled Italian-
style 00 flour is best for this recipe, but
all-purpose is a good substitute. Be sure
to let the dough come to room tempera-
ture before rolling, and stretch it over the
lip of the pan to hold it in place. If you can’t
find stracchino cheese (we like BelGioioso
Crescenza-Stracchino), try fontina.

13 / 4 cups Italian-style 00 flour (about 7
oz.), plus more for work surface

(^1) / 2 cup water
7 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
11 / 4 tsp. sea salt, divided
6 oz. stracchino cheese, torn into^3 / 4 -
inch pieces (about 1^1 / 4 cups)

1. Beat flour,^1 / 2 cup water,^1 / 4 cup oil, and 1
   teaspoon salt with a stand mixer fitted
   with the dough hook attachment on
   medium-low speed until dough is soft and
   slightly sticky, 4 to 5 minutes. Turn dough
   out onto a floured surface; knead until
   smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes,
   dusting lightly with flour as needed. Wrap

dough ball tightly in plastic wrap; let rest

at room temperature 3 hours.

2. Place a pizza stone on middle rack of
   oven. Preheat oven to 500°F. Brush a
   15-inch round rimmed baking pan (such
   as a copper focaccia pan) with 1 table-
   spoon oil. Unwrap dough ball; divide in
   half. Roll each half into a 16-inch circle on
   a lightly floured surface, picking up and
   carefully stretching dough as needed.
   Stretch 1 dough round over prepared pan,
   allowing a^1 / 2 -inch overhang around pan
   lip. Dot cheese evenly over dough; top
   with second dough round, allowing a^1 / 2 -
   inch overhang around pan lip. Gently
   press overhanging dough around pan lip
   to seal. Trim off excess dough; discard.
   Tear 6 to 8 small holes in top dough layer
   (to allow steam to escape). Brush dough
   with remaining 2 tablespoons oil, and
   sprinkle with remaining^1 / 4 teaspoon salt.


3. Place pan on preheated pizza stone;
   bake in preheated oven until focaccia is
   golden brown and bubbly, 12 to 14 min-
   utes. Cut into squares, and serve
   immediately.

EQUIPMENT Focaccia col formaggio is

best when made in a tinned copper pizza

pan (from $40; amazon.com). For a recipe

using a standard pizza pan, visit

foodandwine.com/focaccia-recco. ILL

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