The Focaccia with red pesto, cherry tomatoes, and feta is a delicious soft bread, with typically Mediterranean colors and flavors. The focaccia recipe is that of the famous no-knead focaccia, very easy to prepare at home, highly hydrated, and super digestible. A focaccia we love to enjoy just as it is, to accompany vegetables, cheeses, and cold cuts or cut in half to fill like a sandwich, but it’s also perfect to enrich with other ingredients either before or after baking. Today we offer you a focaccia topped with red pesto, cherry tomato salad, and feta, a mix of ingredients that blend perfectly together and are simply delicious on focaccia!
The recipe is very simple: we spread the focaccia with the red pesto that we prepare by blending sun-dried tomatoes with the rest of the ingredients to obtain a homogeneous sauce. We season the cherry tomatoes simply with garlic, basil, and salt and distribute them over the focaccia, just like the crumbled feta over the entire surface of the focaccia.
To make a delicious focaccia with red pesto, cherry tomatoes, and feta, the starting point is, of course, to prepare a good focaccia dough, and that’s why we recommend our no-knead focaccia, which is not only very easy to prepare but also very soft. Alternatively, you can make an excellent milk dough, or prepare the dough for an unleavened focaccia, made with instant yeast that allows us to get a good bread in no time. Additionally, it’s essential to choose quality ingredients, like the red pesto that we can make at home or buy ready-made, or replace it with other types of pesto you can find on our site. Then the cherry tomatoes, which we can choose in the variety we prefer, such as a mix of red and yellow cherries, and finally, the feta, a cheese that, with its saltiness and unique taste, will give a special touch to our focaccia.
To prepare on 1000 occasions, from appetizers to aperitifs to family and friend dinners, this focaccia with red pesto, cherry tomatoes, and feta will surely become one of your favorites! Try it and let us know!
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Also discover:
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Very Cheap
- Rest time: 12 Hours
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
Ingredients to make Focaccia with Red Pesto, Cherry Tomatoes, and Feta
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/4 cups water
- 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (or 1½ tsp of fresh yeast)
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (plus more oil for the brine)
- thyme (or rosemary)
- 3/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes
- 1/2 cup almonds
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- basil
- 1/2 clove garlic
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- 9 oz cherry tomatoes
- 9 oz yellow cherry tomatoes
- 1 clove garlic
- basil
- extra virgin olive oil
- 5 oz feta
- salt
- pepper
Tools to make Focaccia with Red Pesto, Cherry Tomatoes, and Feta
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Refrigerator
- 1 Baking pan
- 1 Oven
- 1 Knife
Steps to make Focaccia with Red Pesto, Cherry Tomatoes, and Feta
Prepare the Focaccia with red pesto, cherry tomatoes, and feta by first making the focaccia dough: we recommend our no-knead focaccia recipe, very easy and highly hydrated. You’ll get an incredibly soft focaccia with little yeast, so prepare the dough the day before and let it sit in the fridge for 24 hours. Find all the steps in detail by clicking HERE.
Meanwhile, prepare the red pesto: rehydrate the sun-dried tomatoes in boiling water, then drain them and let them cool. Place them in the mixer along with the almonds, basil, Parmesan, and garlic. Blend, adding olive oil slowly until the desired consistency is reached.
Prepare the cherry tomato salad by washing, drying, and halving the tomatoes. Combine them in a salad bowl with the garlic, chopped basil, olive oil, salt, and pepper, and mix well.
Bake the focaccia as explained here, and once it’s ready, spread with red pesto and top with cherry tomatoes and feta.
Simo and Cicci recommend
Store the focaccia in the fridge for up to two days in a tightly sealed container. You can also freeze it without the topping.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
Is it possible to make this focaccia by spreading the pesto on its surface before baking it in the oven?
Yes, you can also prepare it this way, also spreading the cherry tomatoes and feta. Naturally, with oven baking, the pesto will dry, and the cherry tomatoes will wilt, but it will still be delicious.
Can the red pesto be replaced with classic Genoese pesto?
Yes, and not only with basil pesto! Also with arugula pesto, Trapani pesto, zucchini pesto, kale pesto, pistachio pesto, spinach pesto, and for those who dare to try new flavors, even lemon pesto.
