Olive and Red Pepper Focaccia

I would describe myself as a rule breaker and I am married to the ultimate rule follower.  I'll give you an example.  The moment that someone tells me that I can't do something, my brain instantly starts to devise a way around the obstacle so that I CAN do it.  It's just how I'm wired.  If you tell my husband that he can't do something, he accepts the boundary and rarely questions the rule.  Let's just say that I question EVERYTHING and my beloved accepts regulations and restrictions much more willingly.  I am the reason that we ended up on all sorts of crazy "trails" on our trip through Hawaii and he is the reason that we came back without any broken bones.  

There are a lot of times that I wish that I could be more compliant because it sure would save me a lot of headaches.  It's kind of ironic that we have two children and one of them shares Ben content personality and the other has much more of my passive aggressive personality.  I won't tell you which is which but if you've ever met them - you know exactly who resembles who.   

My rule breaking characteristics carry over into my cooking and baking way more than I would like to admit.  I modify recipes just to see if I can.  Sometimes my adjustments makes recipes easier and sometimes they make them more appealing to my family.  Sometimes I change recipes them just for the sake of creating an original. 

This Olive and Red Pepper Focaccia is a perfect example of a recipe that's been Amy-fied.  There were some changes that I made to this recipe to adapt it to the tastes my family.  There were other changes that I made because I just completely screwed up.  (Oh yeah, that's the other reason that I change recipes.)  I must have read through this recipe 4 times before I started to make it and I STILL added all of the flour right at the beginning instead of waiting until after the first rising.  I am going to give you the recipe that I WANTED to make instead of the one that I actually created.  Just be warned that some of the pictures will seem a little off from the instructions.  

Olive and Red Pepper Focaccia
3 cups flour
3/4 whole wheat flour
1 3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/4 cup chopped Kalamata olives
1/4 cup chopped roasted red peppers
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary leaves
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 Tablespoon olive oil

Stir together 2 c. flour, whole wheat flour, 1 1/2 t. salt and yeast.  Stir in water. 

Cover bowl with waxed paper and let rest 2 hours at room temperature.

Stir remaining 1 c. flour into dough.  

Spread into a greased 12" cast iron skillet.

Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 2 hours. 

Sprinkle with olives, peppers, rosemary and garlic.  

Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with 1/4 t. salt.  Cook 3 minutes over medium heat.

Transfer to oven and bake 30 minutes at 400.  

Drizzle with additional oil prior to serving. 

Remove loaf from pan and cool completely on cutting board. 

Slice focaccia.

Serve.

Well, I'm categorizing this focaccia as a lucky accident.  My flour mistake really didn't seem to alter the results too much although to be honest, I really don't know what this focaccia was SUPPOSED to taste like.  All I can say is that my focaccia was crispy on the bottom, soft and chewy inside and seriously delicious.  Now I guess I need to make another batch of focaccia - the right way - to see if it comes out even better than my first loaf.  

​Ciao!

Click here for a printable version of this recipe