I had a bout of insomnibaking last night and this morning. I went to bed at a reasonable time, but then woke up at about oh-dark-thirty, thinking about focaccia. Yep, strange thing to be dreaming about, but I have been ruminating on this recipe for a while, so maybe less of a surprise than one would think. It is actually the base for a pizza/focaccia recipe from America’s Test Kitchen, and then I started drawing with veggies and grains. Anyway, believe it or not, I got up, made the dough for this and went back to bed. Then, as I always get up at about 5 AM, before work I made the rest of it and baked it off just before work. It is actually really good, so even though it is “artwork” (it actually looks like a 4 years old’s drawing), you can eat it. I could see an Italian restaurant serving this as a starter with olive oil and sea salt. Nom nom nom.
Ingredients
for the Dough (for one half sheet pan or two quarter sheet pans
2 2/3 cups (14 2/3 ounces) bread flour
1 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 ½ cups (12 ounces) water, room temperature
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/4 teaspoons table salt
Vegetable oil spray
for the artwork – go wild
Red onions – thinly sliced to look like flowers
Mini bell Peppers – sliced vertically (so they stay round) to look like small flowers or sliced horizontally (in strips) to make big sunflowers
Chives – Make great flower stems or grass
Green Onions – also make great flower stems
Parsley – Perfect for leaves
Basil – Also great for leaves
Cherry Tomatoes – Sliced in half length-wise and dried with a paper towel. Make great flower centers
Olives – Rocks or centers of flowers
Capers – Seed pods
Rosemary – Small plants
Thyme – Small plants
Directions
For the dough: Whisk flour and yeast together in medium bowl. Add room-temperature water and oil and stir with wooden spoon until shaggy mass forms and no dry flour remains. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit for 10 minutes. Sprinkle salt over dough and mix until fully incorporated. Cover bowl with plastic and let dough rest for 20 minutes. Using your wet hands, fold dough over itself by gently lifting and folding edge of dough toward middle. Turn bowl 90 degrees; fold again. Turn bowl and fold dough 4 more times (total of 6 turns). Cover bowl with plastic and let dough rest for 20 minutes. Repeat folding technique, turning bowl each time, until dough tightens slightly, 3 to 6 turns total. Cover bowl with plastic and let dough rest for 10 minutes. Spray bottom of 13 by 9-inch baking pan liberally with oil spray. Transfer dough to prepared pan and spray top of dough lightly with oil spray. Gently press dough into 10 by 7-inch oval of even thickness. Cover pan tightly with plastic and refrigerate for at least 16 hours or up to 24 hours.
Prep your decorating veggies and build a workstation to maximize your workspace.
Brush top of dough with 2 tablespoons oil. Spray rimmed baking sheet (including rim) with oil spray. Invert prepared sheet on top of pan and flip, allowing dough to fall onto sheet (you may need to lift pan and nudge dough at 1 end to release). If making two quarter sheet pans, divide the dough in half (if just making one half sheet, skip this division). Using your fingertips, gently dimple dough into even thickness and stretch toward edges of sheet to form 15 by 11-inch oval. Spray top of dough lightly with oil spray, cover loosely with plastic, and let rest until slightly puffy, about 1 hour. During this time, prep your decorating veggies and build a workstation to maximize your workspace.
Thirty minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 450F. Drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil over the surface and brush evenly with a pastry brush or back of a spoon. Now decorate by adding your veggies as flowers, garden, a mountain scene or even an underwater motif. Let your creativity shine through!
Transfer sheet pan(s) to oven and bake until bottom of crust is evenly browned and top is lightly browned in spots, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating sheet(s) halfway through baking. Transfer sheet(s) to wire rack and let cool for 15 minutes. Run knife around rim of sheet to loosen focaccia and transfer to a cutting board.
Edible art is still art! When ready to eat, cut into 6-10 squares and serve with garlic olive oil for dipping.
