The phrase "lean bread" sounds rather strange, but in many countries bread is called pastry with butter additives (butter, eggs, sugar), which we traditionally call pies, muffins or Easter cakes. Italian focaccia - poor bread of the poor, cooked in the oven, literally - “baked in the ashes”. Practice shows that the Italian poor have something to learn, and this bread is another example. You can bake focaccia relatively quickly, and a combination of crispy bread, herbs and sweet caramelized onions will not leave you indifferent.
The dough for fast bread with onions is very similar in composition to the pizza dough, to this day, many authors argue about what happened before pizza or focaccia. In fact, not only the dough recipe, but the cooking process is very similar, focaccia, just like pizza, is a thin flat cake cooked quickly in a very hot oven.
- Cooking time: 2 hours
- Servings: 6
Ingredients for Italian - Lenten Bread with Onions
- 300 g of wheat flour in \ s;
- 170 ml of water;
- 14 g fresh yeast;
- 45 g of extra virgin olive oil;
- 300 g onions;
- basil, oregano, thyme, salt.
Method of cooking Italian focaccia - lean bread with onions
First, fry in olive oil, chopped large onions to a transparent state and salt it a little. Onions should not be golden, it should be braised in a frying pan.
You can use dry or fresh yeast for baking lean bread; this is a matter of taste and habit. I usually bake bread on fresh pressed yeast, the result is always excellent. So, in the water heated to about 30 degrees, stir the yeast until completely dissolved.
In a deep bowl, sift the wheat flour in \ s, add the yeast diluted in water and about half a teaspoon of table salt without additives.
Add high-quality olive oil, knead the dough first with a spoon.
We spread the dough on the desktop, knead it with hands until it stops sticking to the surface of the table. Put the kneaded dough in a bowl, greased with olive oil, wrap with cling film, remove for 1 hour in a secluded place (quite warm and without drafts). Then the finished dough is gently crimped, releasing the resulting carbon dioxide.
Carefully, trying not to completely destroy the air bubbles in the dough, stretch it with your hands to the size of the form, add the fried and cooled onions, gently stir the onion into the dough.
We lay out the focaccia in a flat refractory form, evenly level hands. I baked this bread in the form of 30 x 25 centimeters. The dough is very malleable and easily stretched.
Sprinkle dough with herbs, basil, oregano (oregano) and thyme. Then wet fingers in olive oil and press on the surface of the dough, making small depressions, the more depressions, the more beautiful the finished bread. We leave for 15-20 minutes to go warm.
We heat the oven (temperature 230 degrees). Focaccia bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown, cool on a wire rack or wooden sticks so that the crust does not steam.
Italian focaccia - lean bread with onions is ready. Enjoy your meal!
