Pesto, Mozzarella, Red Onion Focaccia

I love Focaccia, as does my partner. Whenever we go out to eat, particularly at Carluccios, we always get some Focaccia Bread, as it is absolutely divine, light and fluffy on the inside and perfectly crisp on the outside, and to finish it off, it is scrumptious dipped in oil and vinegar. It is a real sharer. I have adapted a basic focaccia recipe to combine my favourite Italian flavours. This bread  is a dish in itself, it has diverse flavours running all the way through, its perfectly soft and exerts different dimensions of flavours.

 

Pesto, Mozzarella, Red Onion Focaccia

Ingredients

 

500gstrong white bread flour

2 tsp salt

2 sachets dried easy blend yeast

2 tbsp olive oil

400ml cold water

olive oil,

fine sea salt

Jar of Green Pesto

Small Red Onion

1 Ball of mozzarella

Method

Place the flour, salt, yeast, olive oil and 300ml of the water into a large bowl.

Gently stir with your hand or a wooden spoon to form a dough then knead the dough in the bowl for five minutes, gradually adding the remaining water.

Stretch the dough by hand in the bowl, tuck the sides into the centre, turn the bowl 80 degrees and repeat the process for about five minutes.

Tip the dough onto an oiled work surface and continue kneading for five more minutes. Return the dough to the bowl, cover and leave to rise until doubled in size.

Line two large baking sheets with baking paper. Tip the dough out of the bowl and divide into two portions. Flatten each portion onto a baking sheet, pushing to the corners, then leave to prove for one hour.

Prepare the mozzarella by slicing into small chunks or tearing it.

Finely slice the red onion and fry in a pan until light brown.

Preheat the oven to 220C. Drizzle the loaves with oil, sprinkle with fine sea salt, spoon the pesto onto the dough and smear, don't go right up to the edge, leave a 1cm gap. Sprinkle on the mozzarella and the fried red onion then bake in the oven for 20 minutes. When cooked, drizzle with a little more olive oil and serve hot or warm.