That love has never wavered and in fact, only grown stronger once I began to add grapes to to the unbaked dough. Grapes are being harvested in Michigan right now, and I can't think of a more perfect time to make this bread!
I know the idea of cooking fresh grapes seems odd and that the grapes would just deflate into unappetizing skins. Au contraire!
The grapes roast up into a sweet, caramelized bite that pairs up perfectly with savory components! I also talked about roasting grapes on their own here if you're interested in a quick little dessert.
You only need an hour to create this fabulous-ness, or less if you are using instant yeast!
This week I created my focaccia using red onions, grapes, romano and fresh rosemary! It was absolutely stunning to look at and delicious! This combination of ingredients was also amazing after supper with a small glass of Vin Santo instead of dessert!
ROASTED GRAPE FOCACCIA
1 Tablespoon Instant Yeast
1 ¼ cups hot water (115 degrees)
2 Tablespoons sugar
3 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
½ cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 cup fresh grapes, washed
4 Tablespoons Fresh Rosemary, tips of branches
1/2 cup Pecorino Romano, grated
1/3 cup Red Onion, very thinly sliced
In your mixing bowl, blend water, yeast, 1 Tablespoon of EVOO and sugar. Add all of the flour and salt. Using the dough hook, blend at low speed until dough forms ball on hook. Continue kneading additional 3-4 minutes until dough looks shiny and all flour has been incorporated.
Coat dough with 2 Tablespoons EVOO and let double in size (about 15 minutes), punch down. Liberally oil (with EVOO) a 12-13” round pan and press half of the dough into bottom.
Make depressions with your fingertips. Let rise until dough has doubled (15-30 minutes) and add toppings, drizzle with EVOO and sprinkle with salt.
Bake 450 degrees for 25-35 (whole batch of dough or 18 minutes for a half batch of dough) minutes until golden brown and dough has cooked through.
