dave's foodstories

Focaccia with Cheese. Italian Focaccia di Recco.

Today, I’m sharing a delightful recipe from the Ligurian culinary tradition: Recco Cheese Focaccia. This exquisite dish consists of two ultra-thin layers of dough enclosing a gooey filling of fresh cheese. Unlike other focaccias, Recco cheese focaccia requires no leavening, resulting in a crispy exterior and a soft, almost liquid cheese center. The star of this dish is fresh stracchino cheese, and to achieve the right elasticity for the thin dough, we will use strong Manitoba flour. Although the preparation is simple, it requires good manual skills to achieve a perfect result.

Ingredients

For the dough:

  • 400 gr of Manitoba flour
  • 240 gr of water
  • 6 gr of salt
  • 40 gr of extra virgin olive oil (EVO)
  • 400 gr of stracchino cheese


Instructions
Dough:

  1. Put the flour in the mixer bowl and start the machine at low speed.
  2. Gradually add the water while the mixer is running.
  3. Add the salt and continue kneading for a few minutes.
  4. Pour in the extra virgin olive oil and let it knead for about 5 minutes, until the dough becomes. smooth, elastic, and detaches from the sides of the bowl.
  5. Remove the dough from the bowl, form a ball, and let it rest for 10 minutes at room temperature.

Resting the dough:

  1. After 10 minutes, divide the dough into two equal parts and form two balls.
  2. Let them rest covered for 45 minutes.

Rolling out the dough:

  1. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the first half of the dough with a rolling pin until you get a very thin sheet.
  2. To make it even thinner, use the back of your hands to gently and slowly stretch the rectangle. The sheet should be very thin, almost transparent.

Preparing the baking pan:

  1. Grease a baking pan and lightly dust it with cornmeal.
  2. Line the pan with the rolled-out sheet (a rectangular aluminum pan of 30×40 cm is ideal), letting the dough slightly hang over the edges.

Adding the filling:

  1. Evenly distribute the stracchino cheese pieces on the sheet.

Covering with the second sheet:

  1. Roll out the second half of the dough in the same way, obtaining another very thin sheet and place it over the stracchino cheese.
  2. Make small holes on the surface of the focaccia with your fingers to allow steam to escape during baking.
  3. Remove the excess dough using the rolling pin along the edges of the pan.
  4. Drizzle a little oil over the focaccia and sprinkle with salt.

Baking:

  1. Preheat the oven to 250°C (482°F).
  2. Bake the focaccia on the lower rack of the oven for about 10-15 minutes, until the surface is golden and crispy.
  3. Check the baking frequently to prevent it from burning.

Serving:

  1. Once cooked, remove the focaccia from the oven and let it cool slightly.
  2. Cut the focaccia into pieces and serve warm.

Here is the link to the YouTube video with the complete recipe: https://youtu.be/i4Kjinx_Y7c