This Roasted Pepper Focaccia recipe takes my favourite bread dough and turns it into something extra special by topping with sweet, roasted red peppers and plenty of flaky sea salt. Get the recipe below.
Italian inspired breads
Every country has its own bread recipes. And I love the variety that you find all over the world. Right now one of my favourite types of bread is focaccia, a type of bread that originates from Italy.
I love playing around with toppings which may not be completely authentic but I find myself inspired by this Italian bread.
What I love so much about focaccia is its light, bouncy texture. The olive oil in the dough also means it has a really rich flavour. A sprinkle of flaky seat salt on top just makes it! But, today I'm not just topping it with sea salt, I'm also adding sweet and smoky roasted peppers.
How to roast your own red peppers
This recipe simply calls for roasted peppers. If I'm perfectly honest, I get mine out of a jar. It may not be the cheapest way of baking this bread but it's certainly the quickest and easiest.
But, if you prefer to make everything from scratch here are two methods for roasting your own peppers.
Roasting in the oven
To roast peppers in the oven, cut them in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. Make sure to remove any of the white membranes too.
Next, place the peppers on to a baking sheet, cut side down and drizzle them with olive oil.
Roast them in a hot oven (250C / 475F / gas mark 9) until they are blackened.
Roasting over a flame
This is my favourite method. You need a flame so either over a BBQ or a gas hob.
All you need to do is to place the whole peppers directly on to the flame and cook for 10-15 mins. Use tongs to turn them frequently until they are black all over.
How to remove the skins from a roasted pepper
Once you've roasted your pepper you'll want to remove the skins. That way you get the smoky flavour but not the bitterness of the charred skin.
To remove the skins, just leave them to cool! The skins should peel or rub away easily. If they don't they will need cooking for longer.
How to make focaccia dough
Focaccis dough starts like any other bread dough. It's just a mix of flour, yeast, salt, and water with the addition of a good helping of olive oil.
To make the dough is also just like any other bread recipe! All you do is mix together the dry ingredients, slowly mix in the wet ingredients and then knead until smooth and stretchy.
The dough will then need to prove. This is where air bubbles are created resulting in the dough doubling in size. Once it’s doubled in size you then shape and prove again.
Last but not least you add the toppings and press in the signature dimples, drizzle over more olive oil, scatter over seat salt and bake!
Now you know the basics let's get cooking.
The recipe
Roasted Pepper Focaccia
Equipment
- 1 large baking tray
Ingredients
- 375 grams white bread flour
- 1.5 teaspoon sea salt
- 3.5 grams fast action dried yeast
- 100 ml olive oil 75ml for the dough, 25ml for the top
- 175 ml water 150ml for the dough, 25ml for the top
- 2 tablespoon semolina
- 2 roasted peppers
- 2 tablespoon sea salt
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and yeast.
- Pour in the olive oil and water and mix to combine - if it's not coming together in one ball add in a little more water until it does. You want to be left with a slightly "tacky" ball of dough.
- Knead the dough until it is soft and elastic. When poked it should be springy to the touch. This will take roughly 10 minutes kneading by hand or 5 minutes using a food processor with a dough hook.
- Lightly oil a bowl or baking tray so that the dough does not stick. Place the dough on the bowl or baking tray cover with clingfilm and leave in a warm place to prove for 60 minutes or until it has doubled in size.
- Remove the dough from the bowl/baking try and shape by knocking back then stretching/pressing out into a rectangle creating dimples in its surface.
- Sprinkle the baking tray with semolina and place your rectangle of dough on top.
- Push the roasted peppers into the dimples of the dough.
- Whisk together the remaining 25ml of water and 25ml of olive oil and brush over the top of the bread. Again, cover with clingfilm and leave to prove for another 60 minutes or until doubled in size.
- Towards the end of the proving period, pre-heat your oven to 220C / 425F / gas mark 7.
- Remove the clingfilm and place the baking tray into the centre of the oven and bake the focaccia for 25 minutes or until a golden shade of brown.
- Let the focaccia cool slightly before enjoying warm with an extra sprinkling of sea salt.
Nutrition
More bread recipes
For all of the bread recipes on the blog, check out the bread recipe archive.
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