Something about fall gets me craving carbs. Not that I don’t often crave a delicious piece of crusty sourdough bread or pasta slathered in a savory sauce, but the cravings get more intense as the weather cools down. Pregnancy isn’t helping to keep those cravings at bay either. I decided to try my hand at a yeast bread and a flavorful focaccia seemed like just the recipe since it doesn’t have to spend the better part of a day (or night) rising. This bread turned out so good that I ate enough to give myself a tummy ache.

I neglected to take pictures of roasting the garlic. Garlic is so easy to roast and it’s such a satisfying treat. I had an elephant garlic that needed to be used, but any nice large bulb of garlic will work. Just cut off the top 1/3 of the bulb, place on a piece of aluminum foil. Pour 2-3 tablespoons of quality olive oil on the garlic, making sure the oil gets in all the cloves. Wrap up the foil and bake in a 400 degree oven for 45 minutes to an hour. The garlic cloves should be easy to separate and squishy.

At that point remove any tough skin from the garlic cloves and place in a bowl, add two more tablespoons of olive oil and let sit to infuse the garlic flavor into the oil.

To prepare your dough, mix flour, salt, sugar and yeast thoroughly in a large bowl. Add the warm water and olive oil and mix well. Oil a 9 x 13 inch pain and set the dough in the pan and cover with a towel. Find a warm place to let the dough rise for 30-45 minutes. I put mine in the still slightly warm oven.

Once the magic of the yeast has worked spread the dough out in the dish. Using a finger dipped in olive oil, poke holes in the dough. Go all the way to the bottom so that the oil can really get into the bread when baking.

Spread on the garlic infused olive oil, piece of garlic and chopped fresh rosemary all across the dough. Get some pieces of garlic in the little holes. Let sit for another 10 -15 minutes while the oven warms to 375.

Bake at 375 for 25 – 30 minutes. Remove from the oven when the crust is a beautiful golden brown. It’s so tasty to eat while still warm. Try to save some for the rest of your family.

Yield: 12 servings

Roasted Garlic and Rosemary Focaccia Bread

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes

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Ingredients

• 1 large bulb garlic
• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 packet rapid rise yeast
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/2 cups warm water (approx 120-130 degrees0
• 2 additional tablespoons olive oil
• 3 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped
• coarse sea salt to taste

Instructions

1. Roast garlic by cutting off the top 1/3 of the bulb, place on a piece of aluminum foil. Pour 2-3 tablespoons of quality olive oil on the garlic, making sure the oil gets in all the cloves. Wrap up the foil and bake in a 400 degree oven for 45 minutes to an hour. The garlic cloves should be easy to separate and squish and place roasted garlic in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and mash together. Let sit and let the flavors infuse.
2. Blend together flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a large bowl. Add two tablespoons of olive oil to warm water and mix with dry ingredients with a spoon until well blended.
3. Use oil to grease a 9x13 inch baking dish, and set dough in dish. Cover with a dishtowel and set in a warm location for 30 - 45 minutes until doubled in size.
4. Once doubled in size, stretch dough to fill baking dish. Dip finger in olive oil and poke holes in dough, all the way to the bottom, approximately one inch apart. Spread on garlic and oil, filling the holes. Sprinkle chopped rosemary across surface of dough. Add a fine dusting of course sea salt to dough.
5. Bake at 375 degrees for 25- 30 minutes or until surface is golden brown.

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