MAKES 1 HALF-SHEET TRAY (ABOUT 24 SERVINGS)
If you really want to impress your guests, throw together a recipe that is like bread and pizza had a baby together. A beautiful, party-friendly, delicious baby.
This is an ideal recipe for late summer, when you have a wealth of fresh, ripe, juicy tomatoes. You can’t eat BLTs every day, and you don’t want to waste tomatoes’ juicy freshness by reducing them all to sauce. This focaccia lets you use a great quantity of tomatoes without adding much else. Salt, pepper, garlic, and olive oil and your tomatoes will be styling on their carbohydrate bed. In this focaccia recipe, the oiled pan and Baking Steel work some serious magic. The oil infuses the dough as it cooks, yielding an almost caramelized texture on the crispy bottom.
¾ cup olive oil
1 recipe Seventy-Two-Hour Pizza Dough
Salt and pepper
700 grams (1½ pounds) garden tomatoes, sliced or wedged
20 grams (about 2 cloves) garlic, sliced paper thin
1. Position a rack in the lower part of your oven and place the Baking Steel on top. Preheat oven to 500°F for 45 to 60 minutes.
2. Pour 1/4 cup of the oil on the bottom of a rimmed half-sheet tray. Yup, it’s a lot! Place the dough ball on top and roll it gently around in the oil to lightly coat. Cover with plastic wrap (the oil will discourage sticking) and let rest for 1 hour. It will slightly puff up during this time.
3. After dough has rested, press and stretch it to fill the entire half-sheet tray. While you stretch, press down on the dough with your fingers to make some nice-looking divots throughout. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. In a large bowl, toss the tomatoes with the remaining olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, and garlic. Distribute the tomatoes all over the top of the dough, pressing them in to make sure that they fuse with the dough during baking.
5. Use a pizza peel or oven mitts to launch the sheet tray on top of the hot Baking Steel and bake for 8 minutes. Open the oven door and use your peel or mitts to rotate the tray. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes more or until the crust has reached the desired doneness. Remove and let cool on a wire rack. Slice into 24 slabs to serve.