Homemade focaccia with bacon, feta & pomegranate arils

Recipe

Homemade focaccia with bacon, feta & pomegranate arils

Making this dough really doesn’t take a lot of effort, just a bit of planning. Allowing it to rise for 12-24 hours results in a delicious bubbly texture once baked. Baking it with bacon and feta on top and serving it with pomegranate rubies, rocket and a balsamic glaze takes this focaccia to a whole new level. Enjoy this as part of a harvest table, serve it as a starter or side dish your next get-together. 

Makes 1 large focaccia

Recipe developed for the Pomegranate Association of South Africa

Ingredients

4 cups (560 g) stoneground white bread flour or cake flour

10 ml (2 tsp) fine salt

1 x 10 g packet instant dry yeast

500 ml (2 cups) lukewarm water (use ⅓ boiling water and ⅔ cold water)

olive oil

125-200 g streaky bacon, cut into pieces

1-2 slices feta cheese (about 70-140 g), crumbled

fresh rocket leaves, pomegranate arils and balsamic glaze for serving

Method

1. Pour flour, salt and yeast into a large bowl and make a well in the middle. Slowly add water and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula until well combined. It should form a sticky dough. Cover with clingwrap and allow to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
2. Once risen, fill a small bowl with water, dip your hand into the water and using the wet hand, grab the edge of the dough and pull it up and towards the centre, stretching and folding the dough. Continue to dip your hand in the water, repeating this process – do this about 8-10 times. The dough should go from a sticky ball to a smooth dough.
3. Transfer the dough to a large clean, lightly greased bowl. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate overnight, or for at least 12 hours to rise slowly.
4. Once dough has doubled in size, remove from the fridge.
5. Line a large baking tray with baking paper and grease lightly. Place dough on the baking paper, gently pressing it down with your hands. Allow to rise on the tray for about 1 hour, until slightly risen.
6. Preheat oven to 200 °C. Pour a good drizzle of oil over the dough, spreading it evenly on top. Press your fingers into the dough, creating dimples (holes), shaping the dough to fill the entire tray. If necessary, gently stretch it out, using your hands.
7. Place bacon and feta on top of the dough, pushing it slightly into the dimples.
8. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the bacon is cooked and the dough is golden brown, crispy and sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack and allow to cool for a few minutes.
9. Place focaccia on a large serving platter and garnish with rocket leaves and pomegranate arils. Drizzle with balsamic glaze, slice and enjoy warm.

Tip

1. Replace half the white bread flour in this recipe for wholewheat bread flour and make a wholewheat focaccia. Just take note, this may require slightly more water to form a sticky dough in step 1.

Photo by Adel Ferreira.