Foccacia Bread and Pizza Recipe

I was hoping to post a cool Halloween Cauldron Cake today but sadly it never got made. We had to cancel our Halloween party due to the flu my youngest contracted.

Pizza was requested for dinner tonight so I'm posting my version of Pizza for you instead.

A friend of mine passed along a Foccacia Bread recipe years ago and while I rarely make it to use as bread (sometime pannini) I do use it as my base for Pizza dough. I make my dough in a breakmaker under dough setting.

Foccacia bread

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp white sugar
1 tsp chopped or minced garlic
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried basil
1 pinch ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup water
1 tbsp parmesan cheese
1 tbsp bread machine yeast
Bake in oven for 8 minutes at 425 degrees F.
If you make the bread without pizza toppings, place dough on greased baking sheet, and pat it down to 1/2 thick rectangle, brush the top with olive oil and spring parmesan cheese and cup of mozzarella cheese. Preheat oven.

For Pizza I take the dough and usually divide it into two. I allow it to rise for about 1/2 hour, and then form the round dough bases on a well floured surface. I place two Pizza Stones in the oven for about 10 minutes while preheating and working on the pizza's themselves. Preheat oven to 425 F when you start to make the pizza's.

Spread some cornmeal on the pizza stone and transfer the pizza onto the stone. Bake for approx 11-13 minutes.

Roll your dough to approx 1/4 inch thick. Pinch around the sides to ensure the ingredients don't slide out. Spread pizza sauce on the dough

Add ingredients as desired. I use cooked chicken, pepperoni, green and red peppers, and mushrooms, and course plenty of mozzarella cheese. Please note, I usually double the recipe above and divide into three for our family. I also substitute one third of the white flour for whole wheat, and use both regular mozzarella and soya mozzarella for a bit of a healthier option.

Sprinkle more cheese over the top of the ingredients.

Here is the pizza all baked up. Note the dough rises quite a bit so making it as thin as you can prior to baking will give you a thinner crust.