Rosemary Foccasia Bread

 

Ahh, breads. How I love you. And how I hate you! I'll never turn down dessert, but if I have to choose what to take with me to a deserted island, it will be carbs, not sweets. And no, I will not narrow it down. If I can't take all bread and crackers, I just won't go! Isn't the foccasia above just beautiful? Oh, but it tasted even better...

I've been jumping around a lot lately, but I'm back to my birthday menu from a couple of weeks ago. If you missed the table setting, you can see it here. You can check out the recipe for the Italian wedding soup here. Here's a little sneak peek back at both.

This was one of my top five favorite tablesettings ever!

The Italian wedding soup was delicious!

Today I'm sharing the recipe for the easy rosemary foccasia bread I served with the soup. It took a little time because it has to rise, but it wasn't hard at all. Just figure out when you need to start it, and you can do other things while it takes care of itself.

Rosemary Foccasia Bread

1 1/3 cups warm water

2 teaspoons honey (or sugar)

1 package active-dry yeast

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup EVOO

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary

To the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment, add warm water, honey, and yeast. Stir to combine. Let it stand 10 minutes to foam. Turn mixer on low speed, and gradually add flour, salt, and EVOO. Increase speed to medium-low, and let the dough work for 5 minutes. It should pull away from the side of the bowl. If not, add more flour, a tablespoon at a time, up to 1/4 cup.

Grease a large bowl with EVOO, remove dough from mixer bowl and lightly shape into a ball. Place in greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in a warm spot. Allow to rise 45-60 minutes, or until it is doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly spray a large baking sheet, and turn dough out onto it. Using your fingers, push it out into the desired shape (my pan was rectangular), and it is about 1/2" thick. Cover lightly with a greased piece of plastic wrap and let it rise for another 20 minutes.

This picture is before it rose the last 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, use your fingers to poke deep holes all over the bread. Don't worry, it will spring back a little. Drizzle with a little more EVOO and then sprinkle with the rosemary and more kosher salt. Bake 20-30 minutes or until done and golden. The top should be golden and crispy. Cut and serve warm.

This was so good! Everyone loved it! It's great warm, but it's good the next day, too. It was crispy and salty on the outside, and soft and yeasty on the inside. Definitely deserted island worthy!

I'm so glad you stopped by my neck of the woods!

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