Traditional Pugliese Tomato Focaccia Bread Recipe

List of kitchen equipment for making tomato focaccia

Become an Italian bread baker with this fun and yummy recipe. You won’t need much in the way of kitchen equipment to make this delicious focaccia recipe.

• large pot
• bowl
• stand mixer (optional)
• large baking tray or 11-in | 28-cm round baking pan or baking stone

Some bread recipes or focaccia recipes are complicated but this one for tomato focaccia is easy, it just takes a little time, about 4 hours 45 minutes from start to finish with a few longish periods of rise time and the bake time included.

Ingredients you will need to make tomato focaccia

Which ingredients do you like on your bread or pizza? In Focaccia Pugliese, you get not only the dimpled airy bread but also fresh cherry tomatoes and the lovely aroma of oregano.

• All-purpose flour (2.4 cups | 300 grams) – we prefer unbleached all-purpose flour for this recipe, although you can experiment with substituting a small amount with semola flour. Some recipes call for bread flour, which is also fine to use.
• Baker’s yeast (0.68 tbsp | 10 grams fresh or 5 grams dried) – we prefer to use fresh baker’s yeast that has been recently purchased. Be sure to read the directions on the package of whatever yeast you use to be sure that you use that specific type of yeast correctly and that it is still good. We don’t recommend using instant yeast or active dry yeast but it is possible.
• Sugar (pinch) – this is just to activate the yeast, so a large pinch is plenty.
• Potatoes (0.95 cups | 200 grams) – you will need to boil the potatoes and then mash them to a fairly soft and uniform consistency and let them cool completely before you add them to the dough ingredients.
• Extra virgin olive oil (2 tbsp + drizzling/topping) – get ready to do some drizzling and you can certainly add more than 2 tablespoons to this recipe, as Pugliese grandmas know, you can never have too much oil!
• Kosher salt (1 1/2 tsp + topping) – fine sea salt is needed for the dough, you can use coarse salt when you are adding a pinch or so to the top.
• Water (10.14 tbsp | 150 ml) – the water should be warm only, it should not be boiling or super hot.
• Oregano (as desired) – if you have a garden with fresh herbs, then you can certainly use fresh oregano, but dried oregano is fine.
• Cherry tomatoes (10) – or the equivalent of grape tomatoes or summer tomatoes that do not have too much water.

How to make Pugliese focaccia with tomatoes step by step

Wash the potatoes, bring a pot of water to boil, and boil them until soft (photo 1). When they are ready, drain them and mash them with a potato masher until fairly smooth (photo 2). Set aside to let cool completely before combining them with the dough later.

In a bowl, mix the baker’s yeast with a large pinch of sugar and a little of the lukewarm water (photo 3) and wait for 15 minutes or until it bubbles and froths (photo 4).

Dough by hand: Place the flour in a big bowl and make a hole in the middle. Add the mashed potatoes, oil, salt, and finally the yeast water and stir together with a wooden spoon. Now slowly add the water a little at a time while you mix the dough by hand. Knead the dough by hand for about 10 minutes into a loose ball.

Dough with a mixer: Place the flour in the bowl of the mixer. Add the mashed potatoes, oil, salt, and finally the yeast water (photo 5) and start mixing with the dough hook attachment. Then slowly add the water a little at a time while you continue to mix the dough (photo 6). Knead with the mixer for about 5 minutes.

The dough is ready when it stays together but it is still fairly soft dough, it should never be hard. Form it into a ball and place it in an oiled bowl and cover it with a damp cloth or plastic wrap (photo 7) and leave it in a warm place for 2 hours, or until it has more than doubled in size (photo 8).

Drizzle a large baking sheet pan or 11-in | 28-cm round baking pan with a good amount of olive oil (photo 9). Spread the oil around with your hands on the bottom and sides, coating completely and getting your hands very oily in the process.

Take the dough with your hands, which are still very oily, and push it into the form until it is evenly distributed and has reached the edges (photo 10).

Let it rise for another 30 minutes in the tray.

Now cut the cherry tomatoes in half (photo 11) and press them into the top of the dough.

Add a pinch of salt, oregano and a drizzle of olive oil over the top of the focaccia bread and cover with plastic wrap (photo 12). Leave to rise again in a warm place for about 1 hour, it should double in size. About halfway through, turn on the oven to preheat to 430° F | 220° C.

Bake in the oven at 430° F | 220°C for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Put on parchment paper over a wire rack to cool slightly before serving.

Expert tips and tricks

• Check the dough. For the first rise, to check if the dough has risen sufficiently, place a small piece of dough in a glass with water. If it floats, then it is done rising.
• Rise in a warm place. Let the dough rise in a warm place, it can be the oven with the oven light on (but not the heat), or under a kitchen light or near a heat source that keeps it warmer than the room.
• More salt or less. You can use as much or as little as you like, so if you are restricting salt intake, then just use a pinch in the dough and you can skip sprinkling it on top.

Variations of Pugliese focaccia to try

• Add kalamata olives or other black olives. Pitted black olives are a delicious addition to this scrumptious focaccia recipe. Add a half cup of pitted olives pushed into the top alongside the tomatoes and then follow the rest of the recipe instructions.
• Add thyme and minced garlic. If you are a garlic lover, why not mince a clove of garlic and mix it with the extra virgin olive oil before drizzling it over the focaccia bread at the end. Then add dried thyme at the same time you add the oregano.
• Do tomato puree instead of tomatoes. This is one of the other classic recipes for Pugliese focaccia bread. Take 0.45 lb | 200 grams of tomato sauce and mix in the olive oil, salt, and oregano. Then pour over the top of the focaccia at the time when you would usually add the tomatoes. Spread the tomato sauce around with the back of a spoon until near the corners and do the second rise and baking as instructed.