Vegan focaccia with tomatoes and rosemary

Vegan focaccia with tomatoes and rosemary

vegan focaccia cutting

Sometimes you search for the right ingredients to create standout recipes, but for today’s recipe the delicious ingredients found us. This focaccia is a celebration of multi-coloured cherry tomatoes and fragrant fresh rosemary.

It all started when we were at the local mini supermarket buying food for our ever hungry cat. We noticed a small box of wonderful looking mauve and yellow cherry tomatoes from the nearby organic farm. “We need to use these!” exclaimed Ania.

As this point I put my best foot forward and offered to make a focaccia with cherry tomatoes. Ania was happy to take a small break from cooking and let me carry the show. We messaged our neighbour Suzie to try and wangle a small amount of rosemary as she grows it in her garden. She gave us enough to start an Italian bakery.

When I was first taught how to make a simple rosemary focaccia, I was told that if I was ever trying to sell my house, this was the perfect thing to bake ahead of a potential buyer’s visit. The smell of rosemary and freshly baked dough is very likely to facilitate the transaction 😉 .

I have no doubt you will love the look, smell and (most importantly) taste of this vegan focaccia with tomatoes and rosemary. Just try not to eat the whole thing in one go!

vegan focaccia before baking

vegan focaccia baked

vegan focaccia cross section

serves
6-8
PREP
45 min
COOKING
20 min
serves
6-8
PREPARATION
45 min
COOKING
20 min
INGREDIENTS
  • 500 g / 4 cups bread flour
  • 7 g sachet fast-action dried yeast
  • 1½ tsp salt
  • 320 ml / 1 1/3 cups of water
  • 1 tbsp olive oil + extra to glaze
  • 20 cherry tomatoes
  • 2 rosemary sprigs
  • coarse sea salt, for sprinkling
METHOD
  1. Mix the flour, yeast and salt in a large mixing bowl.
  2. Pour in the water and olive oil. Stir everything together with a large wooden spoon.
  3. When the mixture has mostly stuck together turn the mixture out on to a work surface or bread board.
  4. Knead the mixture by holding one end of the dough in one hand and stretching it out with the other hand. Reform the dough, turn it 90 degrees and start again. Repeat this for 10 minutes (see photo below).

bread kneading

  1. When the dough is shiny and smooth, put it in a large mixing bowl, coat it in a thin layer of olive oil and cover the bowl with a tea towel.
  2. Leave this in a warm place (but not too warm – ie not next to an open fire!) for between one and two hours (until it has doubled in size).
  3. Flatten and shape the focaccia in an oiled baking tin (we used a metal one) with your hands, making sure you stretch it into the corners.
  4. Press deep holes (all the way to the bottom) into the focaccia as per the pictures above, and push the cherry tomato halves (cut side up) into the focaccia.
  5. Coat with olive oil and sprinkle with rosemary and salt.
  6. Cover with a tea towel and prove the focaccia in the tin for a further 30 minutes. Bake for 10 min at 250° C / 480° F, then turn the oven down to 200° C / 390° F and bake for a further 10-15 minutes until the top is golden brown.

NOTES

The baking tin I used has the following dimensions: 26 cm x 19 cm x 5 cm (10″ x 7.5″ x 2″)

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NUTRITIONAL INFO
calories
252
13%
sugars
1 g
1%
fats
3 g
4%
saturates
0 g
2%
proteins
8 g
16%
carbs
47 g
18%
*per serving
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5.0
9 reviews, 21 comments
REVIEWS & QUESTIONS
Zandi:
Absolutely delicious! was a hit with my grandmother and in-laws!! ❤️
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank you, Zandi, I am delighted to hear that! x Ania
Chichi:
Sorry forgot to rate!!!!!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank you so much, that's so kind of you! x Ania
Chichi:
Thank you so, so much! I just finished baking this - and it is the most heavenly focaccia EVER! I would recommend this recipe to everyone, as the instructions are simple and easy to follow.
Truly, the best recipe I've ever used (I've tried others, and not one turned out quite as wonderful).
    Ania
    Ania:
    Aw thank you, Chichi, I am so happy to hear that this recipe has been such a success for you and thanks so much for taking the time to review, we really appreciate it. x Ania
Jen:
I don’t know what I did wrong, but mine came out like a flat, inedible hockey puck. LOL While it did proof to double in size, when kneading it together,, it NEVER looked “shiny and smooth” like in the pics. This is only the second time I’ve ever tried to make bread and both have been disastrous. I guess I’ll just be buying vegan bread from now on. So sad. :( I’m sure it’s me, not the recipe.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Jen,
    Oh no, I am so sorry. It sounds to me like perhaps you are not working the dough enough or your kneading technique needs a little work and therefore the gluten isn't getting activated enough. Here is a pizza video of ours that shows correct kneading technique. Hope this helps! Ania
    PS: I am assuming you are using the correct - bread (also known as strong) - flour, which has much higher gluten content than other flours.
Kathryn Scully:
Perfect every time 😍
    Ania
    Ania:
    Yay, thank you Kathryn, I am delighted to hear that! x Ania
Kathryn:
This is a fantastic and easy recipe for focaccia. I’m finding myself making it regularly!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank you, Kathryn! I'm delighted to hear that! x Ania
Kathryn:
2nd time making this. It’s yummy 🤤
    Ania
    Ania:
    Yay, that's fantastic to hear, thank you Kathryn! Ania
Elisabeth:
This recipe is great I make it all the time ! Thanks for the recipe! For the fluffiest focaccia try not to touch the dough at all after it rises
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks for your kind words, Elisabeth! And a great tip, thanks! x Ania
Marina:
Has anyone tried freezing some of the dough for later use?
Michele:
I have made this a couple times and it comes out perfectly and smells wonderful. I’m bringing it to a friend’s potluck because everyone will be so impressed with how beautiful it looks!
    Ania
    Ania:
    I'm so glad to hear that, Michele! :) Ania
Inês:
I want to make this for a Christmas brunch and I was wondering if it would be a problem to make the dough the night before. I know the recipe says to let it rest for two hours, but it would save me a lot of time if I did it the night before.
It looks amazing! Thank you for sharing :)
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Inês,
    I am not sure what to advise as I want it to be a success for you and we have not tried proving the dough overnight so I'm unsure whether it will turn out as good if you do. You could try and stick the dough in the fridge and pat the air out the next morning again (as in my experience with other yeast dough, the dough continues to prove in cool temperature albeit at a slower rate). Hope that helps! Ania
sarah:
There are some differences between the written recipe and the video above. The video showed some regular flour was added in the beginning, the tin was oiled before putting the dough in and then it was proved a second time. Which instructions should we follow?
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Sarah,
    Yes, there is a captioning glitch in the video and you should definitely use only bread flour for the focaccia (as per the written recipe). I've adjusted the recipe to explain about greasing the tin for shaping and to explain clearly about a 2nd proving. Follow the writtem recipe and it will work perfectly. In fact, I'm making this guy for Christmas in 6 days and I will be using this recipe!
Juliana:
Gracias todo esta hecho con mucho amor ,gracias por compartir alimentación consciente
Megan:
I'm curious as to the size of your baking tin?
    Ania
    Ania:
    Very good question, Megan! I completely forgot about that, I've now updated the recipe (see NOTES). Hope that helps! Ania
Richard Church:
Always loved focaccia bread. I haven't made one for quite a while but you've given me the inspiration to make one now. Great blog!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks, Richard! That's great to hear! Hope you'll give it a go! :) Ania
Hayley:
Just made this and it is really delicious. Thanks for sharing 😁
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks, Hayley, we are so pleased to hear that! Ania
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