Today, let’s get our hands in the dough and prepare a delicious rustic focaccia with chickpeas. It’s made with three different types of flour and its dough is enriched by a fragrant chickpea puree. It is great stuffed with cold cuts and/or cheeses and perfect for a snack, dinner with friends, or a Sunday brunch. The preparation is simple but not quick, as expected for a leavened baked product.

Other focaccia recipes not to be missed:

Difficulty: Medium
Cost: Cheap
Rest time: 4 Hours
Preparation time: 20 Minutes
Portions: 4 servings
Cooking methods: Oven
Cuisine: Italian
Seasonality: All seasons

Ingredients for the rustic focaccia with chickpeas

In this recipe, I used dry yeast, but fresh yeast is also fine. If you use the latter, dissolve 12 g in lukewarm water before adding it to the flours.

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup semolina flour
8.5 oz canned chickpeas (drained weight)
1 3/4 cups water
1 3/4 tsp dry yeast
1 1/4 tsp salt
extra virgin olive oil (for greasing the dough)
1 sprig rosemary
fleur de sel
extra virgin olive oil

Tools

I prepared the dough for this focaccia with a stand mixer, but you can make it with any other mixer or even by hand, working the ingredients first in a bowl and then on the work surface.

Stand Mixer
Hand Whisk
Sieve
Blender
Baking Pan 12 inches in diameter

Preparation of rustic focaccia with chickpeas

Place the three flours in the bowl of the stand mixer. Add the dry yeast and mix with a small hand whisk.
Drain the chickpeas from their preserving liquid and rinse them well under running water.
Transfer them to a blender and puree them: I used the Thermomix for 10 seconds at speed 5.
Add the chickpeas to the flours, add the lukewarm water, and start kneading with the dough hook.
When the mixture has come together, add the salt and continue working with the hook until you get a smooth and homogeneous dough.
Transfer to a lightly floured work surface, knead it briefly by hand, and shape into a ball.
Place it in an oiled bowl, grease the dough as well, cover with film, and let it rise until doubled in volume in a warm place, sheltered from drafts: the rising time depends greatly on the ambient temperature and can vary from two to three hours.
After the first rise time has elapsed, deflate the dough and spread it on the lightly floured work surface.
Then transfer it to a well-oiled 12-inch baking pan.
Cover with a cloth and let it rise for another hour.
After this second rise, drizzle the surface of the focaccia with oil and poke holes with your fingers.
Finally, sprinkle with rosemary needles and dust with fleur de sel. This type of salt is ideal because it’s a middle ground between fine salt, which would be too small, and coarse salt, which would be too large. If you can’t find it at your trusted supermarket, you can buy it online by clicking HERE.
Bake the rustic focaccia with chickpeas in a preheated static oven at 356°F for 30 minutes, then raise the temperature to 428°F and bake for another 5 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving. It is excellent cut into wedges and filled with cold cuts and/or cheeses of your choice. Enjoy! Paola
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