Focaccia Sandwich
26 May 2024
with homemade Romesco sauce
You guys loved my Focaccia bread recipe so now let’s take it up a notch and turn it into a focaccia sandwich. I don’t know about you but my for-you page has been flooded with new and trendy sandwich stores selling thick focaccia sandwiches – honestly the chokehold on my algorithm is insane. So instead of riding 40 minutes for a sandwich, I decided to make it at home and it’s unbelievably easy.
There are a few things to note about this recipe:
- Dough: it’s a 100% hydration dough – meaning flour and water will be the same in weight (or ratio of 1 to 1), hence it’s going to be a wet dough! Much wetter than your typical bread dough – you won’t be able to knead it on your bench so don’t be surprised when it looks like a huge as mess.
- Bread flour: you must you bread flour, and you CANNOT substitute with plain flour. Bread flour has higher protein levels which gives your bread structure. You need at least 12% protein in your flour, check the nutrition table at the back of your flour packet.
- Yeast: this recipe uses instant dry yeast which is a lot more beginner friendly. I highly recommend the Sal brand but you cannot find it, it’s no big deal – just use the best yeast you could find.
- Sugar/Honey: in order to activate the yeast, you first need to feed it! Yeast feeds on sugar and this is an essential part in creating successful breads. If there is nothing for your yeast to feed on, it will not do its job in the fermentation and the rising of your bread. Honey is also a great option as it adds flavour to your focaccia, but use what is available to you!
- Warm water: aside from sugar, yeast activates at a certain temperature, more specifically at body temperature. If your water is too hot, it will kill the yeast and your bread will not rise. If your water is too cold, it will not activate the yeast and again fermentation will not take place. Make sure to heat up your water to body temperature, this is an essential step!
- Salt: salt adds flavour to the bread but it can also kill your yeast. It is important to not let salt and your yeast come into contact before the yeast is activated. This is why we let the yeast feeds on the sugar in the warm milk first and later add salt to the dough.
- Olive oil: this recipe uses a lot of olive oil and it adds a lot of flavour to the bread. I highly recommend you use a good quality brand of olive oil as you can really taste it.
- Resting: you can definitely make and eat this on the same day or, if you don’t have time, you can also let the dough ferment overnight in the fridge and bake it the next time (you’d just need to bring it back to room temp before you bake). The later will produce a much more flavourful focaccia.
- Roasting peppers/capsicums: there are a number of way for you to do this. I just put mine under the broiler and let it char for 30 minutes. You could also do it with a conventional oven but it’ll take longer, or you could also char it on your stovetop.
Ingredients
Focaccia Bread:
500g bread flour
500g warm water
5g instant dry yeast
10g salt
10g sugar
1tbsp olive oil
Romesco Sauce:
2 red bell peppers/capsicums, halved and remove seeds
1/2 cup almond, roasted
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes
1/4 cup parsley
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1-2 garlic cloves
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
Rocket/Arugula
Fresh Mozzarella, sliced
Tomatoes, sliced
Balsamic Vinegar glaze, optional
Method
- FOCACCIA: In a bowl, pour in your warm water, followed by salt, sugar, yeast and oil in this order. Stir until the salt and sugar are dissolved.
- Add in flour and mix until a very wet dough forms. Cover with a towel and set aside to rest for 10 minutes.
- Once rested, it’s time to do 4 sets of 4 folds, 10 minutes apart from each set. Remove the towel and wet your hand. Pick up one corner of the dough, gently pull it upwards while shaking and then fold it over the dough. Turn the bowl 90 degrees and repeat 3 more times. Cover with towel and let it rest for 10 minutes. Do the 4 folds, rest 10 minutes, do the 4 folds, rest, 4 folds. So in total, it’s 16 folds over 30 minutes of resting.
- Once you’ve done your final set of folds, prepare your baking dish with a parchment paper and a generous layer of olive oil. Transfer the dough into the baking dish, fold the dough into thirds, turn 90 degrees and then flip it over so all sides are coated in oil. Gently spread the dough into the corners but don’t force it. Cover with plastic wrap and a tea towel and let rest in a warm area for at least 2 hours. [Or you can put it in the fridge overnight. 2-3 hours before you’re ready to bake, take it out and let it come to room temp].
- Once you’re ready to bake, drizzle olive oil over the surface. Wet your fingers and gently make dimples into the dough. Sprinkle with salt or any other topping or your choice. Bake at 180C/350F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Baking time will vary depending on how small/big your baking dish is, larger baking dish will require less time because your dough will be spread out more thin; so just keep an eye on it. Transfer focaccia onto a cooling rack. Cut to portions.
- ROMESCO SAUCE: Place your capsicum/bell pepper halves onto an unlined baking tray and place it under the broiler for 25-30 minutes until it’s blackened. Let it cool for 5 minutes and then remove the blackened skin.
- Into a blender, add all the ingredients for the Romesco sauce and blitz until it’s well-blended and smooth.
- ASSEMBLE THE SANDWICH: Open up your focaccia and spread on some Romesco sauce, followed by some arugula/rocket, tomato slices and fresh mozzarella. {optional} drizzle over some balsamic vinegar and serve.
Focaccia Sandwich
Ingredients
Focaccia Bread
- 500 g bread flour
- 500 g warm water
- 5 g instant dry yeast
- 10 g salt
- 10 g sugar
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Romesco Sauce
- 2 red bell peppers/capsicums, halved and remove seeds
- 1/2 cup almond, roasted
- 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes
- 1/4 cup parsley
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Sandwich Filling
- Rocket/Arugula
- Fresh Mozzarella, sliced
- Tomatoes, sliced
- Balsamic Vinegar glaze, optional
Instructions
Focaccia Bread
- In a bowl, pour in your warm water, followed by salt, sugar, yeast and oil in this order. Stir until the salt and sugar are dissolved.
- Add in flour and mix until a very wet dough forms. Cover with a towel and set aside to rest for 10 minutes.
- Once rested, remove the towel and wet your hand, it’s time to do 4 sets of 4 folds, 10 minutes apart from each set. Pick up one corner of the dough, gently pull it upwards while shaking and then fold it over onto the dough. Turn the bowl 90 degrees and repeat 3 more times. Cover with towel and let it rest for 10 minutes. Do the 4 folds, rest 10 minutes, do the 4 folds, rest, 4 folds. So in total, it’s 16 folds over 30 minutes of resting.
- Once you’ve done your final set of folds, prepare your baking dish with a parchment paper and a generous layer of olive oil. Transfer the dough into the baking dish, fold the dough into thirds, turn 90 degrees and then flip it over so all sides are coated in oil. Gently spread the dough into the corners but don’t force it. Cover with plastic wrap and a tea towel and let rest in a warm area for at least 2 hours. [Or you can put it in the fridge overnight. 2-3 hours before you’re ready to bake, take it out and let it come to room temp].
- Once you’re ready to bake, drizzle olive oil over the surface. Wet your fingers and gently make dimples into the dough. Sprinkle with salt or any other topping or your choice. Bake at 180C/350F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Baking time will vary depending on how small/big your baking dish is, larger baking dish will require less time because your dough will be spread out more thin; so just keep an eye on it. Transfer focaccia onto a cooling rack. Cut to portions.
Romesco Sauce
- Place your capsicum/bell pepper halves onto an unlined baking tray and place it under the broiler for 25-30 minutes until it's blackened. Let it cool for 5 minutes and then remove the blackened skin.
- Into a blender, add all the ingredients for the Romesco sauce and blitz until it's well-blended and smooth.
Assemble
- Open up your focaccia and spread on some Romesco sauce, followed by some arugula/rocket, tomato slices and fresh mozzarella. {optional} drizzle over some balsamic vinegar and serve.