Cheese, Vegetarian

Cheese focaccia – Focaccia al formaggio

This cheese focaccia is a typical dish from my lovely region, Liguria. It is so typical that you can taste the original "Focaccia di Recco col formaggio IGP" only in a small area of the Riviera Ligure, in a town called Recco and in some villages nearby. This is why this recipe is called "Focaccia al formaggio" and not "of Recco" as we are very far from the sunny Riviera Ligure. This focaccia does not require yeast. With only four ingredients you can create a dish that will make you close your eyes after putting the first bite in your mouth. Simply heavenly!

Prep time: 1 hour (including 30 min dough resting)
Cook time: 8-10 min
Total time: 1 hour and 10 min

$13-15 total*

3-4 people

Ingredients

150 g (1 cup) unbleached all-purpose flour
75 g (1/3 cup) lukewarm water
250 g (1 package) stracchino cheese
20 g (2 tbsp) extra virgin olive oil + some more (about 10 g/1 tbsp) to put on top of the focaccia
a pinch of salt

Preparation

Put the flour, water, and extra virgin olive oil into a mixing bowl. With a fork, mix the ingredients until incorporated into a ball.

Transfer the ball to a working surface and knead it for 5 minutes (press and pull it several times). This will allow developing the gluten that will make the dough very elastic and able to stretch. The final dough must be very soft and must not stick to your hands. If it does, simply add some flour.

The dough needs to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature. I like to put it in an airtight container to avoid using plastic wrap, but this is also an option.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit and move the internal rack of the oven to the lowest position.

Grease a baking tray of 23-25 cm (9-10 inches) in diameter with olive oil.

Take the dough and divide it into two parts, one slightly larger than the other. Roll the largest dough with a rolling pin on a working surface dusted with flour. Use your hands to stretch the dough into a very thin layer by gently pulling the extremities of the dough (you should be able to see your hand through it).

Place the dough layer on the greased baking tray, making sure to have about 1 inch of extra dough outside the edges of the tray. Remove the air trapped in between the dough layers and the tray by gently pressing the dough on the tray while lifting the sides of the dough.

Spread the cheese on top of the dough in small pieces (about the size of a cherry tomato).

Finely roll the second piece of dough (repeat the same procedure as before) and place it on top of the cheese.

Gently rip the top layer of the dough nearby the cheese pieces. Then, press the top layer to remove the air trapped between the two layers of dough. If needed, keep opening small holes on the top layer.

Remove the dough in excess by pressing the edges of the baking tray with the rolling pin.

Sprinkle the top of the focaccia with some olive oil and salt.

Bake the focaccia for 8-10 minutes, until the dough becomes crispy (not too much! This focaccia should be very soft).

Enjoy the cheese focaccia while hot!

Tips & notes

You can incorporate the flour, water, and oil directly on a working surface instead of in the mixing bowl. Put the flour on the surface and create a hole in the middle. Insert the water and oil in the hole and start mixing with your fingers. This will allow you to incorporate as much flour as needed (sometimes less flour is sufficient!).

Be careful not to rip the lower layer of dough while making the holes on the top layer. Your cheese will “escape” on the bottom of the baking tray, and this is something you definitely don’t want to happen!

You can prepare the dough in advance and leave it in the airtight container in the fridge for up to two days.

You can reuse the dough you removed from the focaccia! Knead it again and let it rest for at least 30 minutes before using it again.

Stracchino is a relatively cheap cheese in Italy, but here it is extremely expensive! However, I would not recommend to replace it with any other cheese. This recipe is delicious thanks to the unique texture and taste of the stracchino cheese! Some online stores sell stracchino cheese, but I usually buy it at Eataly.

Last but not least, this cheese focaccia is also delicious when reheated. I suggest to reheat it in the microwave and not in the oven to preserve its soft texture. Anyway, there are rarely any leftovers 🙂