Fig and Shallot Focaccia
Late summer / early fall means sweet, delicious figs in the U.S., so I’ve been playing with a number of ways to bake with them. My latest is a sweet and savory Fig and Shallot Focaccia. The focaccia is light and fluffy in the middle with crispy, crunchy edges. It’s generously sprinkled with goat cheese and dried rosemary and is on the thinner side, so it works well as an easy flatbread or pizza-ish dinner. Even better? You can have this on the table in around two hours from start to finish.
I made it with goat cheese, but feta cheese or ricotta would also be nice. You do need a mixer for this recipe, the dough is very sticky making it almost impossible to kneed by hand, and the fast gluten development relies on mixing the dough at high speed.
Serve with a green salad tossed in a light citrus dressing for a lovely late summer dinner.
Fig and Shallot Focaccia Recipe:
Yield:
1, 13x16 inch flatbread
Difficulty:
Easy
Equipment:
Stand Mixer or hand mixer
Adapted from King Arthur Baking's No-Fuss Focaccia
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Ingredients:
Dough:
420 grams all purpose flour
1 TBSP instant yeast
1 ¼ tsp salt
2 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried oregano
3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil, plus more for the pan
1 ½ cups water, 80° - 100 °F
Topping:
1 whole shallot
9 or 10 fresh figs
1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
4 ounces goat cheese, feta, or ricotta*
1 tsp dried rosemary
Salt and pepper
*If using ricotta, make sure it’s not too wet, drain excess liquid if necessary.
Garnish ideas: (optional)
Fresh basil or mint leaves
Drizzle lightly with balsamic, or serve on the side with olive oil for dipping
Instructions:
Spray a rimmed sheet pan with non-stick spray then add 2 TBSP of olive oil to the pan and let it spread out. This will give the bottom of the crust the crispy edges.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together flour, yeast, salt, and herbs. Then, with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in warm water and olive oil just until combined. Beat with the paddle attachment of your mixer on high speed for a minute. You’ll see the strands of gluten appear.
Using a bowl scraper or rubber spatula, scrape the wet dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Using oiled fingers, gently pat out the dough into a rough rectangle. It may not reach the edges of the pan, but it will spread out as it rises. Spray top of dough lightly with oil spray or other non-stick spray, cover with plastic wrap, and let it rise at room temperature for 1 hour.
While the dough rises, preheat the oven to 375° F. Slice the figs in half and remove the stems. Thinly slice the shallot. When the dough is almost finished rising, gently toss the cut figs and shallots in a bowl with 1 TBSP olive oil.
Once the dough is ready, remove plastic and, using your fingertips, gently press holes all over the dough then drizzle all over with olive oil. Arrange figs and shallots across the top (figs should be cut side up as shown below), sprinkle with dried rosemary, salt and pepper.
Bake for 25-30 minutes until light golden brown. The center should read 190°F on an instant read thermometer. Transfer immediately to a cooling rack so the bottom doesn’t get soggy in the pan.
Let cool for 5 or 10 minutes before transferring to a cutting board, garnish with basil or mint leaves, cut and enjoy!
