Shocking yes I know! But this is two recipes now with no sugar in them. Not to worry I will be throwing some uber-sugar ladened fattening treat your way sometime soon.
A cool day emerged out of a string of miserably warm ones and so the yeast was calling my name. Call me the yeast whisperer if you will 🙂 My husband is always craving pizza of some form. I can make him a pizza using an English muffin and processed cheese and he would be happy(yes, amazingly I still married him). I decided on fococcia bread because it makes a large batch(at least my recipe does) and that way I can make him a pizza version and a version for me. The version I chose for me was blue cheese and walnut. This is a well used recipe around here because you can throw just about anything on top of it and it is good. If I had pears I would have diced some up and thrown those on their too.
Instead of putting onions on top, I sauted them up and snuck them into the dough, so that hubby would eat them. 😛 You could certainly add some to the top if you like but I felt that the amount in the dough gave just enough onion flavor for me.
Blue Cheese and Walnut Fococcia Bread
2 ½ tsp dry yeast
¼ cup warm water
2 ¼ cups water, room temperature
4 TBSP olive oil
1 TBSP salt
7 ½ cups all purpose flour
¼ cup onions, minced
½ cup blue cheese, crumbled
½ cup walnuts, chopped
Combine the yeast and the warm water with a whisk until it looks creamy. Let it rest for about 10 minutes while the yeast blooms.
While yeast is resting, heat 2 TBSP of the olive oil in a saute pan and saute the onions until lightly brown, being careful not to burn.
In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture with the room temperature water with a whisk. Add in the remaining olive oil, salt and flour. Mix to form a soft dough. You can do this by hand or in the mixer. If using the mixer be careful not to over mix the dough. Mix cooked onions into the dough making sure that they are distributed evenly.
Form dough into a large ball and place into a large, lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and lte rise until it doubled in size about and 1 ½ to 2 hours.
Cut dough into two pieces, or three if you want smaller rounds. You can roll the dough into either a rectangle shape or a round. I like the rectangle shape better because of how they fit on my pans. Place the circles or rectangles onto a pan that has been lined with parchment paper. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and leave for 30-45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400F.
Once the dough has sat, take your finger tips and make dimples in the dough. Brush with some olive oil if you like. Sprinkle walnuts and blue cheese onto dougg. Bake bread in oven for about 25-30 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. It’s best to start watching around the 20 minute mark. Cool and serve.
If you are interested in making the pizza version that I make for my husband. Brush olive oil on top. Followed by a thin layer of pizza sauce. Add some Parmesan cheese and some chopped basil and bake for the same amount of time as the blue cheese and walnut version.
Claire says
This looks really different and yummy. See, savory can be good! 😉
lululu says
You can’t believe how full I am now as I just finished a big dinner. But looking at your bread (I love bread, blue cheese and walnut!!!), I just wish I could have at least one small piece!
……Actually, I think I could take 2 pieces! 😛
CK says
Yummy! :p
Meeta says
You cannot do this to me Peabody!! I rely on you for my daily sugar rush. Seriously though I have been thinking od finally making my own focaccia – now that I am not scared of yeast and kneading anymore – and I have been looking for an interesting recipe. Thanks for providing me with one. Looks great!
Tanna says
I know I’m speed reading this Peabody but I’ve always wanted to try walnuts and blue cheese on Fococcia. This is beautiful.
Lydia says
I love blue cheese in bread — I’d never had it until a couple of years ago when a local artisan bakery joined forces with a cheese shop to produce several variations on the breed-with-cheese idea. Blue cheese in bread is delicious!
Cheryl says
I’m singing the happy carb dance now. Blue cheese and walnuts too. God I love you.
Jeff says
Ya’ll gonna be ok??? I mean…2 post in a row without something sugary???? I think you need more oil on this 😉
Rose says
I just love the combination of blue cheese and walnuts together. It brings out the sweetness of the cheese. Lovely pizza. What a lucky man!
Deborah says
Wow – this looks fabulous. I want to give the blue cheese version. I’m especially happy because it sounds like this one is easy to make without a mixer. Yummy!
Michelle says
This is great! I have been wanting to find something sweet and sugarless for my grandma. She is diabetic, I think she would love this. It looks great!
Kelly-Jane says
Walnuts and blue cheese are lovely together, and your bread looks so light and yummy.
Jeff says
I still can’t believe that you have 2 posts that aren’t all sugary sweet!
Kristen says
This is amazing! Walnuts and blue cheese on a pizza. What a great idea!
Helen says
Oh that crust is just perfect! Walnut and bleu cheese…awesome…
Kirsten says
Wow, that is lovely. The focaccia looks perfect and I love what you topped it with.
I wish a bakery near me made this!! 🙂
Sylvia says
Three thinks that I love : focaccia,walnuts and blue cheese. Wonderful idea.
Sylvia says
Three things that I love : focaccia,walnuts and blue cheese. Wonderful idea.
Bea says
this looks delicious. I wish I could have a few slices to take with us on our picnic!
sandi @ the whistlestop cafe says
Great idea! Walnuts and blue cheese, the only thing missing is some freshly sliced pears.
Beautiful~
Jann says
good gawd-I am going to make this right now~see ya~
Aurora says
peabody, i made this! it was good, though it was a lot of dough for the amount of blue cheese and walnuts stated. thus, i broke it into two large pizzas- one with mozz and tomato sauce and the other with the amounts of blue cheese and walnuts( eh kinda, i sorta eyeballed. and i added pears!) both were good and were done around 15 min. yay for my first recipe from here!:)