Focaccia Bread Pizzas

Pizza is probably our favorite meal around this house. We'll eat delivery, frozen, homemade, thin or thick crust, many different toppings (but mostly pepperoni :) ). Sometimes, though, you want to take a classic and change it up a little.

I decided to take focaccia bread and make it the main course by topping it with some pizza toppings, making it a heartier dish. The thicker "crust" of these pizzas is full of flavor and would be great on it's own, but really comes together with almost any toppings you want to throw on. We took this recipe and made two smaller square pizzas with it, using two different sets of toppings (we HAD to have one with the traditional pepperoni/mozzarella topping!). This meal would make a perfect treat on the go or would be great for a picnic as well.

Focaccia Bread Pizzas

1 c. warm water

3 TB olive oil (plus more for drizzling)

1 1/4 t. salt

3 1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour

2 pkg. dry active yeast dissolved in 1/2 c. warm water for 10 minutes

1 TB fresh rosemary, chopped

1 TB fresh thyme, chopped

For two pizzas: Drizzle 2 9X9" baking dishes with 1 TB olive oil in each one. Combine all of the ingredients with an electric mixer and mix for 60 seconds.

Scoop 1/2 the sticky batter into each pan, cover, and let rise at room temperature for 60 minutes, or until it becomes puffy.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Poke the dough all over with your index finger and top with toppings of your choice (do not go overboard on topping, though! this isn't a traditional pizza), pushing the toppings slightly down into the dough. Bake the bread until the toppings begin to brown, about 35-40 minutes.

for toppings:

mushroom/goat cheese/truffle oil pizza

2 oz. goat cheese, crumbled

2 oz. mushrooms (mixed works well: shitake, baby bella, crimini)

1/2 c. baby spinach

1/4 stick butter melted, mixed with 1 clove minced garlic

1 TB truffle oil

Spread the garlic butter mixture onto the prepared, risen focaccia dough. Place the spinach leaves, mushrooms and goat cheese on the dough. Bake as directed. After finished baking, drizzle the pizza with truffle oil and serve.

pepperoni pizza

4 large or 10 small slices pepperoni

1/2-3/4 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Sprinkle the cheese on the risen focaccia dough. Top with pepperoni slices and bake the focaccia accordingly.