Everyone in Genoa knows that foolproof dough and cheese focaccia are best friends. However, this isn’t obvious because foolproof dough has a challenging personality: to get the best out of it, you need to know it well and be careful not to upset it. The cheese focaccia knows this and is also aware that it couldn’t exist without the foolproof dough. These two friends always go together.
It may seem complicated, but it isn’t. By using a few tricks that I’ll teach you, foolproof dough and cheese focaccia will become your best friends too.
If yeast bothers you, but you love pizza, check out the recipe for yeast-free margherita pizza.
If you’re interested in Genoese savory pies, you need to know how to make foolproof dough, and then you can prepare:
↣ Torta Pasqualina: the Ligurian savory pie with artichokes and chard
↣ Genoese Chard Pie – Traditional Recipe with Prescinseua
↣ Ligurian Rice Pie
↣ Pumpkin Pie with Cocoa Pastry – Variant of the Classic Genoese Pie
↣ Savory Pie with Agretti: Recipe with Goat Ricotta and Buckwheat Pastry
↣Eggplant Torta Pasqualina – Genoese Recipe with Eggplant and Ricotta
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Inexpensive
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 45 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Energy 1,183.75 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 84.38 (g) of which sugars 1.88 (g)
- Proteins 53.88 (g)
- Fat 70.37 (g) of which saturated 2.67 (g)of which unsaturated 0.00 (g)
- Fibers 2.75 (g)
- Sodium 1,262.14 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 9 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for Foolproof Dough
With a bit of experience, foolproof dough (flour, water, and oil) is made by eye in the food processor, always putting the liquids first and then the flour. The ratio is two parts flour to one part water (for example, 2 oz of flour and 3.4 fl oz of water), to which we will add a teaspoon of salt and two generous tablespoons of olive oil.
It turns out much better if we use Manitoba flour, but in Genoa, the cheese focaccia has been made long before Manitoba flour emigrated from America to our beautiful port. So regular flour, double zero or zero, is perfectly fine.
At this point, our dough — which should be soft but dry — needs to rest a bit in a warm place.
- 17.64 oz Manitoba flour
- 8.8 oz water (warm)
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- to taste salt
- 28.2 oz stracchino cheese (soft)
- to taste salt
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
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Preparation of Foolproof Dough and Cheese Focaccia
I have already explained that foolproof dough is kneaded in the food processor and needs to rest a bit in a warm place before being rolled into very thin sheets.
Once done, brush the oven tray with oil. You don’t need much oil, but it should be even. Then roll out the dough.
I can testify that what I’m about to say is possible: divide the dough into four parts, take the first part leaving the others in a warm place, and roll the sheet with a rolling pin on a floured board, trying to avoid odd shapes. When it’s nice and thin — with floured hands — lift it gently, starting from the center, keeping your knuckles under the sheet. The dough will follow you and keeps getting thinner. It seems impossible, but it is so; it just takes practice.
Place it gently onto the oiled tray. Now just add plenty of stracchino and then another sheet on top. Seal the edges well, or the stracchino will escape.
Convection oven, very hot, 428°F or even 446°F. It cooks quickly; 15 minutes will be enough.
There’s much more to say about foolproof dough
I promised tricks and I’ll keep my word.
The first trick, very useful: if you forgot to knead in advance (like me always), heat a bit of water in a saucepan. When it’s boiling, pour it out (or make yourself a nice tea) and place the hot saucepan over the dough. Leave it there until it cools down, while you sip your tea. Then roll out the dough.
The second trick is to stretch the sheets from the center with your knuckles to avoid tearing them with your nails. If you can, stretch the sheets in two: I learned just like that, helping my grandmother… and I tore many!
Last trick: when you take it out of the oven, wait a moment before cutting, or the stracchino will pour out.
If you have a bit of dough left, perhaps a little, it keeps well in the fridge for a day or two, then it can be rolled out effortlessly to make excellent crackers.
I forgot to say that if a sheet breaks and you need to re-knead it, it’s not worth rolling it out immediately: use another one and let this one rest. It’s called foolproof dough for a reason, and it’s very sensitive, a true Genoese character.
To conclude: did you know that by returning to the HOME you can find a section called Secrets in the Kitchen? It’s dedicated to basic recipes, but not only: there are tricks, tips, and secrets for cooking easily and quickly. There’s an interesting article on the art of cooking by eye, and a very useful one on how to knead shortcrust pastry (and more) with a food processor. You will also find many more recipes, both sweet and savory. Follow me on Facebook and on Instagram and now also on Telegram: you’ll see, you’ll never be without dinner ideas again.
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