The focaccia with caramelized onions is one of my absolute favorite focaccias! Everyone has surely eaten onion focaccia at least once, but with this recipe and caramelized onions, I assure you that it results in a tall, soft, fragrant, and delicious focaccia that will send you into ecstasy and make you fall in love at the first bite! For the more adventurous, try it with a cappuccino, it’s a show, otherwise eat it as is, on its own, instead of bread or accompanied by cold cuts and cheeses. One of the best things about this recipe is that it’s hand-mixed; in fact, you won’t even get your hands dirty, you’ll just use a simple spoon to mix all the ingredients, yet you’ll get a super soft focaccia with caramelized onions, fluffy and full of bubbles, without needing any special flours, I used the usual all-purpose from the supermarket. Try it and let me know!
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Affordable
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 12x12in pan
- Cooking methods: Oven, Electric oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1.7 cups water
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp salt
- 5 g fresh yeast
- 2.2 lbs onions
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- to taste salt
Steps
The focaccia with caramelized onions is very simple and quick to prepare, first put the all-purpose flour in a large bowl, the crumbled fresh yeast, the lukewarm water a little at a time (I added it in 3 goes) and mix with a spoon.
Add the extra virgin olive oil and let it be absorbed, then add the salt and give it a good mix, don’t worry if the dough isn’t perfectly homogeneous, it should be like that.
Cover the bowl with a cloth and make quick folds, every 20 minutes and 3 times, always using the spoon, you won’t have to dirty your hands this time either.
After completing all the rounds of folds, let the dough rise for 2 hours, then deflate it, make another round of quick folds, again with the spoon, and transfer it to a pan greased with a little oil and, without touching it, let it rise for another hour.
Meanwhile, prepare the caramelized onions: clean the onions, cut them into pieces and put them in a pan along with extra virgin olive oil, let them fry for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. As soon as the onions are wilted, add the brown sugar, salt, and continue cooking for another 5 minutes, the sugar should dissolve completely and start to caramelize.
Once risen, drizzle a little oil over the dough and spread it out, pressing down with your fingertips (many bubbles will appear!), add the caramelized onions on top, pressing some into the dough, and salt, then bake the focaccia with caramelized onions in a preheated oven at 428°F for 30/35 minutes, until golden.
Notes:
The focaccia with caramelized onions keeps at room temperature for a few hours or in the fridge for 3/4 days. I don’t recommend using all-purpose flour (00), unless it has a protein content greater than 14/15 g, otherwise it won’t rise well and won’t be bubbly. You can also use dry yeast, in this case, use 2 g.
Other focaccia recipes HERE
