Recipes

Focaccia with Mixed Greens, Pancetta and Mushrooms

Our brand ambassador Theo Randall is going to be creating a series of beautiful, Italian inspired recipes. Check out the first one below and learn how you can create this delicious, fluffy focaccia at home, with the help of some tasty hidden ingredients!

Ingredients

200g kale
100g wild rocket
1 clove garlic, sliced
½ tsp of crushed fennel seeds
250g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
900g strong white bread flour
100g fine semolina flour, plus extra for lining the tray
35g fresh yeast or 14g dried yeast
Pinch of caster sugar
Pinch of salt
30ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil
600ml warm water
100g sliced pancetta
150g fontina or Gruyère cheese, cut into cubes
1 tbsp olive oil, plus 50ml for drizzling

Method

To make the greens, in a pan of boiling salted water blanch the kale for 5 minutes until very tender. Remove with a slotted spoon and place in a colander. Finally, add the rocket to the blanching water, and cook for 30 seconds. With a slotted spoon add the cooked rocket to the colander with the cooked kale.
Squeeze all the greens until there is very little water left in them. Roughly chop the squeezed greens on a chopping board.
In a hot medium-sized saucepan, add 1 tbsp olive oil, the sliced garlic and crushed fennel seeds, cook for 30 seconds then add the chopped greens. Cook for 3 minutes and season with salt and pepper, keep to one side.
In a large, hot frying pan add 2 tbsp olive oil and the sliced chestnut mushrooms. Cook for 10 minutes or until the mushrooms have released all their water and the mushrooms are cooked and sticky. Leave to one side.
In a large bowl, mix the flour and semolina flour together, and set aside. In another bowl mix the yeast with the sugar. Add the salt, olive oil and 600ml of the warm water and mix together.
Tip the yeast mixture into the flour and mix using a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, to a soft but not sticky dough (you may need to add more water or flour).
Shape it into a ball. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel or cling film and leave the dough to rise in a warm place until doubled in size. During this time, oil a baking tray.
Once risen, spread out the dough on the prepared tray to a roughly rectangular or square shape, push in the pieces of raw pancetta, cheese and the cooked chopped greens along with the cooked chestnut mushrooms, mixed greens and cheese chunks so they are pushed to the bottom of the focaccia. This is important otherwise they may burn if they are exposed too much.
Leave to prove in a warm place for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 220°C. Place a tray of water in the bottom of the oven, this will produce moisture, which will help the focaccia rise. Alternatively, use the Smeg Steam oven on the combination setting.
Bake the focaccia for about 10- 15 minutes until golden brown; it should sound hollow when tapped on the base. Drizzle more olive oil all over the top, then leave to cool on a wire rack before cutting.

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