No baked goodie on this planet is more comforting and homey than a fresh-out-of-the-oven focaccia bread. In this recipe, discover the delights of baking your very own herbed focaccia – stuffed with jalapeño pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, and olives – in a cast-iron skillet. Not only is it a beautiful and impressive centerpiece for any table, but it’s also packed with vibrant flavors and amazingly easy to make. With little gumption and a lot of olive oil, focaccia bliss awaits.
Focaccia Dough 101
Focaccia dough begins pretty much the same way as any other leavened bread: add a package of dry active yeast to a bowl of slightly warm water with a little sugar (the sugar can be granulated or in the form of a syrup). The yeast will begin to consume the sugar, and so release carbon dioxide. When you begin to see little tiny bubbles emerging on the surface of the water in the bowl, that’s when you know that your yeast has “bloomed.” This chemical reaction will leaven your focaccia bread, and so help it to become a big beautiful centerpiece. It usually takes 5 – 10 minutes.
Next, you add a mixture of bread flour and whole-wheat flour (all-purpose works too) to the yeast, as well as dried thyme, salt and – the star ingredient – olive oil. That’s what makes a focaccia bread a focaccia: the olive oil. 1/4 cup to be exact. Don’t skimp on it, otherwise you’ll just have a glorified pizza dough.
In the large mixing bowl, combine it all together until the dough is formed, then plop it out onto a lightly-floured surface and knead the dough some more, until it’s a cohesive ball. Don’t be afraid to put your entire body into it – kneading should be a full-body experience. This should take about 5 minutes or so. The trick is to make the dough feel like clammy flesh. It’s gross imagery, but it’s the texture you want!
Place the dough back into the bowl covered with a bit of olive oil (to prevent it from drying out), and then cover the bowl with a clean dish cloth and place it somewhere room temperature. Let it rise for about an hour, or until doubled in size.
After that, divide the dough into two portions, flatten them out to be the size of your cast-iron pan, and then lay one inside the cast-iron, load it with the filling, and lay the other half on top, pinching the edges together to seal it. Again, let this prove (rise) a second time for about 20 minutes, then it’s ready to bake.
But of course, before you bake it, take your fingers and poke an indented pattern across the bread. A focaccia bread without dimples is simply not a focaccia.
Jalapeño Pesto: What You’ll Need
Pestos are one of those vibrant and flavorful sauces that often really make a dish. The same is true for this focaccia bread recipe. The pesto serves as a bright foil to the homey, hearty bread.
Not only will a layer of pesto be spread inside the bread itself, but there should be enough leftover to use as a dipping sauce as well. So rest assured that you’ll be getting the most out of the pesto experience.
Making a vegan pesto is really not that difficult. Instead of parmesan, I use nutritional yeast. It really helps give the pesto that cheesy kick.
Here’s what you need to create the perfect jalapeño pesto to go along with this focaccia bread.
- Basil
- Walnut halves
- Garlic
- Olive oil
- Lemon juice
- Nutritional yeast
- Salt
- Jalapeños
Other Filling Ingredients: Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Olives
The two other ingredients that you’ll need for this wonderful focaccia bread are sun-dried tomatoes (preferably those preserved in liquid) as well as Kalamata olives.
Sun-dried tomatoes are a delicious and savory bite that compliments the zippy pesto. The trick to using sun-dried tomatoes in this recipe is to make sure that you press the oil out of them before hand. Simply place the sun-dried tomatoes between two paper towels and press well to get rid of the excess oil. We won’t need or want the added moisture or the oily texture once instead the focaccia.
Kalamata olives are the ultimate salty bite. They add that kick of saltiness that emboldens all the other flavors, and leaves you smiling from the inside.
More Vegan Bread!
– Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Swirl Bread
If you enjoyed this cast-iron focaccia bread, consider leaving me a comment or recipe rating before you go – it helps me immensely!
Cast-Iron Focaccia with Pesto & Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Equipment
- Large Bowl
- Food Processor
Ingredients
- 1 (2 ¼ teaspoon) package dry active yeast
- 1 ⅓ cups warm water
- 2 teaspoons agave syrup, or plain granulated sugar
- 1 ¾ cups whole-wheat flour
- 1 ¾ cups bread flour
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 – 3 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the Jalapeño Pesto
- ½ heaping cup walnut halves, toasted for 3 – 5 minutes
- 3 – 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 cups basil
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 jalapeños, de-seeded and minced
Other Filling Ingredients
- ⅓ cup packed sun-dried tomatoes, pat dry of excess oil and roughly chopped
- ⅓ – ½ cup Kalamata olives, sliced cross-wise into small circles
Garnishes
- Some olive oil
- Some sea salt flakes
- Some dried thyme
- Extra jalapeño pesto, for dipping
Instructions
- Firstly, in a large mixing bowl, combine 1 package (2 ¼ teaspoons or 4 oz.) of dry active yeast with 1 ⅓ cup warm water and 2 teaspoon agave syrup. Let the yeast bloom for about 10 minutes, until bubbly and frothy.
- Next, add to the yeast mixture to a large mixing bowl that contains the whole-wheat and bread flours, olive oil, dried thyme and salt. Mix well until the dough is cohesive and sticking together.
- Knead the dough vigorously on a lightly floured surface (to prevent it from sticking) for about 5 minutes, or until the dough looks more self-contained, is no longer super sticky, and feels a little bit like clammy flesh (sorry for that imagery).
- After that, add about a tablespoon or so olive oil to another large mixing bowl (or the one you just used once cleaned), and plop the ball of dough into it, covering the whole of the dough in oil. Once coated in olive oil, cover the bowl with a clean cloth, and place it some place sunny, or just above room temperature (if possible). Let the dough rise for 60 – 70 minutes, until it has doubled in size.
- Meanwhile, make the pesto by toasting some walnuts in a cast-iron pan for 3 – 5 minutes, and then pulse them in a food processor with the minced garlic cloves. Once that's pulsed together, add all the other pesto ingredients and process until you have a smooth pesto. Store the pesto in the fridge until you're ready to use it.
- When the dough has doubled in size, punch the dough down, then cut it in two even halves. Fit one of the halves to the circular bottom of a clean cast-iron pan that has been greased with a small amount of olive oil, until it lays flat across the entire thing. Now, take only 3 – 4 tablespoons of pesto (the rest you can use for a dipping sauce) and spread it across the circular base of dough, leaving about ¼-inch boarder of dough free of pesto. Next, add the sun-dried tomatoes and Kalamata olives.
- Then, shape and fit the other half of dough overtop the other, and pinch the two together so that you encase the filling between the doughs. Rub the top with a small amount of olive oil, cover the cast-iron pan with a clean cloth, and again store some place sunny or room temperature for 20 minutes, for a second prove.
- Right before baking, use your fingers to poke some indents into the top of the dough, an inch or two deep, to give the focaccia that signature look.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C), and begin baking the cast-iron focaccia for 15 minutes. Then, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (175°C) and continue baking for 20 – 25 minutes, until golden brown, crispy, hollow when tapped, and firm on the bottom (you can lift it out of the pan a bit to check). Brush the top one last time with a small amount of olive oil, sprinkle on some sea salt flakes and dried time, and then serve!
Nutrition
May you have good food in good company,
That Vegan Nephew
I love focaccia bread. This is absolutely delicious all by itself or as an accompaniment to a hearty soup or chili. The skillet kept it crispy on the outside and bready and tender on the inside. Thank you once again Vegan Nephew!