| 1 | From: ted taylor |
| 2 | the following recipe is for "focaccia romana," or roman focaccia, from jeff smith"s "the frigal gourmet cooks three ancient cuisines." he recommends it as the best dough for a pizza crust he"s run across, and i must say it is both |
| 3 | very easy and very good to eat. |
| 4 | I halved the following recipe (but used the full amount of garlic, plus 2 c of meaty red sauce, about 4 oz. of pepperoni, 8-9 fresh mushrooms and 8 ounces of whole-milk mozzarella) and the results were great. |
| 5 | Lacking quick-rise yeast, i used regular yeast and just ate a little later -- no problem there. |
| 6 | And of course, i made the dough into a pizza instead of a plain focaccia (which is like a thick pizza (also round, but thicker) but without toppings. |
| 7 | dissolve the yeast in the tepid water. |
| 8 | Add the sugar, olive oil, oil, and salt. |
| 9 | Mix in 3 c of the flour and whip until the dough begins to leave the sides of the mixing bowl, about ten minutes [!!]. |
| 10 | I [smith] use my kitchenaid mixer for the whole process. |
| 11 | mix in the remaining flour by hand or with a dough hook and knead the dough until it is smooth. |
| 12 | Allow the dough to rise twice, right in the bowl, and punch down after each rising. |
| 13 | oil 2 baking sheets, each 13 inches by 18 inches, and divide the dough between the 2 pans. |
| 14 | Using your fingers, press the dough out to the edges of each pan. |
| 15 | Allow to rise for about 30 minutes and brush with the crushed garlic mixed with the oil for topping. |
| 16 | Sprinkle the rosemary and kosher salt on top. |
| 17 | bake at 375 °F for about 30 minutes. |
