I could wax poetic about the smell of baking bread or of dough but it has been done hasn’t it? Lets be honest after the heat wave I was dying to put a dent in some of my herbs. My sage plant bush is out of control so I thought I would put it to good use in some bread.
When I come to the cabin I always want to cook and bake all day but sometimes I am too lazy to follow it through. That’s where the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day book comes in. I stirred the base Olive Oil Dough together on Friday morning and had totally different, herby flatbreads on Friday and Saturday night. They are coming out with a healthy version soon and I am totally stoked, notice it is right around my birthday people?
dough:
I used the Olive oil dough recipe from here. I substituted 2 cups whole wheat flour for 2 1/2 cups of regular flour but it will be good either way. This makes a double batch so if you only want one focaccia worth of dough halve it. The topping below is enough for one.
topping/filling:
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 cup fresh sage, minced
1 tablespoon rock salt
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
Turn on oven to 400F. Toast walnuts. Bring walnuts up to medium low heat in a skillet tossing regularly. When they start to smell fragrant, remove. Once it is risen, or after it has been taken out of the fridge and brought to room temperature turn out onto a well floured counter top. Flatten roughly and sprinkle on walnuts and sage.
Roll up like a jelly rough and knead dough for a few minutes to incorporate, you may need to add more flour at your discretion to keep it from sticking. Grease a baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Flatten and stretch the dough into a rectangle and transfer to the baking sheet, pressing into the corners. Drizzle over remaining olive oil and brush to distribute, sprinkle on rock salt. Using your finger tips press dough to create indentations – you should see pools of olive oil, you want this. Trust me.
Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let rise for 20 minutes. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until nice and browned.
Similar Recipes:
Grilled Tomato & Oregano Fougasse
Foccacia Bagels
Focaccia Bread
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
My sage plant is just a tiny thing. I would love for it to warrant a strike out and be promoted to a bush.
I love focaccia bread but have never made it. I'll have to address this egregious omission. Let's hope my sage plant can keep up with the demand.
That last photo is making me WAY too hungry. Good on you for cooking such a simple yet elegant food. Yum.
Christie – it is the most forgiving bread to cook in my opinion. The key is lots of olive oil.
Dallas – sorry about that, if you are in Van I will make another batch!
that looks great, thanks for the recipe!
Great recipe!! The combination is truly fascinating. walnut and sage foccacia recipe both are nutritious and good for health. So both combination is likely to be tasty and healthy alike. thank you for shearing your post.