Focaccia with pesto & mozzarella

Focaccia with pesto & mozzarella

This homemade pesto bread is a delicious accompaniment to Italian food

Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 4 - 6

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 20 - 25 mins

Cook time

Cook 30 mins

plus rising and proving
Vegetarian

Vegetarian

Method

  1. Put the flour into a bowl and mix in the salt. Mix the yeast into 325ml tepid water. Add the water and oil to the flour, then mix well with a plastic scraper or your hands. When most of the liquid is incorporated, use your hands to bring all the ingredients together into a ball of dough.
  2. Tip the dough out onto a worktop lightly dusted with flour and work it by pulling and stretching for at least 10 mins. Try to get as much air into it as possible. Put the ball of worked dough into a well-oiled bowl, cover with a little more oil and a tea towel or cling film. Leave to rest for 1 hr or so in a non-draughty warm spot, until doubled in size.
  3. Now stretch the dough out onto a baking sheet until it's about 20 x 30cm. Leave the dough to rise again to about half as high again, about 30-40 mins in a warm draught-free place, loosely covered with a tea towel.
  4. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. When the dough has risen, press your fingers into it gently to make some holes. Bake for about 15 mins, then remove from the oven. Tear over the mozzarella, then bake for another 5-10 mins until golden and cooked through. Drizzle over the pesto and scatter with sea salt, if you like. Serve straight away.
Try

Pesto Genovese

Put 50g basil leaves into a food processor and pulse to a pulp. Add 1 small garlic clove and 50g toasted pine nuts and whizz until mixed through. Stir in 125ml extra virgin olive oil and 25g grated Parmesan. Store leftovers in a sterile jar, topped up with a little olive oil to seal. Will keep for up to 3 weeks in the fridge.

638 kcalories, protein 25g, carbohydrate 96g, fat 20 g, saturated fat 6g, fibre 4g, sugar 2g, salt 2.42 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, September 2009.

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Latest comments and suggestions

  • Binder photo Belkey

    09 September 2009

    Belkey rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    I made this for a picnic and my friends all thought it was absolutely fantastic. I was a little disappointed with it though as it was not quite as I would imagine. One improvement I think would be to lightly brush the surface with a little olive oil before putting it in the oven as it would then be a little softer on the top and have less of a "bread crust".

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  • Binder photo DroghedaAndrew

    11 September 2009

    DroghedaAndrew rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Easy to make, accurate directions, pleasure to eat!

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  • Binder photo recipes

    18 October 2009

    recipes rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Good, easy recipe with nice flavours. I think it needs quite a lot of olive oil at the first bake stage in order to keep it nice and soft as it can be quite crusty. This was my first real attempt at bread and I will definitely make it again

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  • Binder photo KatyH

    27 October 2009

    KatyH rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Made this, and it worked beautifully. Definitely a success.

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  • Binder photo rita

    11 May 2010

    rita rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Really nice, original and tasty. I used deep pan pizza pastry, used more mozzarella cheese and spread the homemade pesto all over the surface. A great recipe, sure to do again, and to add to my pizza recipe collection.

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  • Binder photo squaccy

    29 May 2010

    squaccy commented on this recipe

    hey sorry, how much water do you have to add? its not in the ingredients :)

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  • Binder photo squaccy

    29 May 2010

    squaccy commented on this recipe

    ignore that! can't read :P

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  • Binder photo Becks

    21 July 2010

    Becks rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Didn't brown as much as I'd hoped which may be because I brushed the top with olive oil on the advice of previous posts but it is absolutely scrummy and I will definitely be making this again! Must make my own pesto next time...

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  • Binder photo madchef

    09 March 2011

    madchef rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Drizzle oil after baking. sprinkle with chopped herbs. Looks lovely and tastes absolutely delicious!

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  • Binder photo Jacqueline Fenner

    17 September 2011

    Jacqueline Fenner commented on this recipe

    Pesto is made of parmesan cheese: Parmesan/Parmigiano-Reggiano is an EU Protected Designation of Origin product and has to be made using calf rennet, so it�s definitely NOT suitable for vegetarians.

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  • Binder photo rakichahal

    04 November 2011

    rakichahal rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Just the follow the instructions and it comes out perfect. Agree with the earlier comments, do put extra oil all over the top (not missing the corners and edges) to ensure that it all stays soft.

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  • Binder photo elaine

    22 February 2012

    elaine commented on this recipe

    Made this recipe for a family get together and served it with baked camembert drizzled with walnut oil, and made some guacamole and salsa. Was the hit of the night. I'm not a great cook and have minimal confidence but this was easy and turned out brilliant. Have shared the recipe with everyone. Good tapas platter.

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  • Binder photo Amchoor

    07 March 2012

    Amchoor rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Nice and easy recipe which ballooned to an enormous size and was the moistest, fluffiest focaccia I've had. found it didn't brown much but apart from that it still looked and tasted great. am going to try it with olives and dried tomatoes next....

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  • Binder photo Lez

    17 May 2012

    Lez commented on this recipe

    Love this recipe! Worked very well. I drizzled some oil over mine after it baked for 15 mins, then topped with Pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, mozzarella and an Italian herbs mix. I'm making this again today I enjoyed it so much!

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  • Binder photo Four Candles

    20 October 2012

    Four Candles rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Oh yes, this worked beautifully. Don't be worried about how wet the dough is - it will turn out just fine.

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  • Binder photo Joyce

    25 October 2012

    Joyce commented on this recipe

    One of our favourite breads, made this bread yesterday and it was gorgeous. To stop the bread from developing a crispy crust drape a clean tea towel over it just ater you've drizzled the pesto/olive oil and scattered sea salt over it. The steam keeps the bread soft. This is what I always do.

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  • Binder photo Paul

    03 November 2012

    Paul rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    I made this today. Exactly as above except that i pushed a half basil leaf into each impression I made in the dough before baking. I had a piece warm and a piece cold, I prefer cold myself. Baked well, tasted great. Thanks.

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Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 4 - 6

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 20 - 25 mins

Cook time

Cook 30 mins

plus rising and proving
Vegetarian

Vegetarian

Ingredients

  • 500g strong white bread flour, plus some for dusting
  • 1 ½ tsp salt
  • 7g sachet fast-action yeast
  • 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil , plus some for drizzling
  • 125g ball mozzarella , drained
  • 5 tbsp pesto (shop-bought or see recipe, below)
  • sea salt , to serve (optional)
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638 kcalories, protein 25g, carbohydrate 96g, fat 20 g, saturated fat 6g, fibre 4g, sugar 2g, salt 2.42 g

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