The Focaccia with Crunchy Peppers and Aged Sausage is truly an explosion of flavor, rich and very tasty. You can use either spicy or sweet sausage, depending on which you prefer, even better if you have pezzente sausage, typical of Basilicata. For a vegetarian version, omit the sausage and add some black olives instead. Want to know more about Crunchy Peppers? Click here.

Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Cheap
Rest time: 3 Hours
Preparation time: 40 Minutes
Portions: 6 people
Cooking methods: Oven
Cuisine: Italian Regional

Ingredients

3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/8 cups water
0.3 oz fresh yeast
1 tsp fine salt
1 tsp sugar (level)
15 crunchy peppers
10.5 oz tomatoes
3.5 oz onions
to taste fine salt
to taste olive oil
7 oz sausage (sweet aged pork)

Preparation

Place the flour in a mound on a work surface, add the yeast, sugar, and warm water little by little. As it absorbs, incorporate a bit more. Continue this way until you’ve used all the water. Now add the salt and knead until you have a smooth, non-sticky dough.
Flour a container, put the dough ball inside, dust the surface with flour, cover it with plastic wrap, then with a kitchen towel, and let it rise for about 2/3 hours.
If you knead the evening before, a gram of yeast will suffice.
Once the time has passed, your dough will have more than doubled. Remove it from the container, place it on a board, knead it again, and divide it into two pieces, one larger and the other slightly smaller (wrap them in plastic wrap to prevent drying). Let rise again for about an hour.
Clean the dried peppers with a cloth to remove dust, remove the stem, and remove the seeds inside.
Wash and clean the onions.
In a bowl with cold water, soak both the dried peppers and onion for about half an hour.
Pour a bit of oil in a pan, heat it, and add the onion drained from the water, cut into thin slices. After a minute, add the drained peppers cut into strips.
Mix the ingredients and after about five minutes add the washed tomatoes, from which you have removed the skin and seeds, cut into cubes. Salt and cook for about 10 minutes. If it dries too much, add a bit of water during cooking. Adjust salt as needed.
Let the mixture cool slightly.
Roll out the larger dough piece with a rolling pin, forming a circle about 13.5 to 13.75 inches in diameter. Grease a pan with a diameter of 12 inches and cover with the dough, covering the bottom and the edges for about 1 inch.
Now put the pepper filling in the pan, trying to spread it evenly.
Place the diced aged sausage on top.
Roll out the smaller dough piece with a rolling pin and cover the surface of the focaccia. Fold the edge inward, to close it well, press with the prongs of a fork. Brush the surface with a bit of oil.
Bake at 356°F for 30-35 minutes.
And enjoy your meal!