Tomato Tomatoe

Peach & blue cheese sourdough focaccia

For as long as I can remember, focaccia has always been one of my favourite types of bread. Whenever I visit Italy, I always scout out where I can find focaccia. The ingredients they use are pure and simple. I made focaccia years ago using instant yeast and it didn’t make for a fluffy and light focaccia. Last year I made focaccia using my sourdough starter and it was a game changer! If you have sourdough starter, you need to try making this focaccia. Baking isn’t my strong suit, but this recipe is fool proof and is so easy to make. It’s made using only four ingredients! I like making it around 6pm and by the time you are finished with the five folds, you can leave it on the counter overnight to proof and then it can be baked in the morning. There’s seriously nothing better than making your own focaccia at home!

Recently I’ve been seeing food creators make focaccia with various inclusions like jalapeño and cheddar. A friend of mine sent me a video for focaccia with peaches and blue cheese and at first I thought the combination might be a little out there and that the flavour of the blue cheese would be too strong for my liking. I decided to experiment and give the combination a try. I’m so glad I did because this focaccia with peaches and blue cheese truly blew me away in the best way possible.

I will admit that I’m not the biggest fan of blue cheese, I do like it in wedge salads or blue cheese dipping sauce with chicken wings but out of all of the cheeses, it may be my least favourite. Instead of using a traditional blue cheese for this recipe, like a Stilton or Roquefort, I used Saint Agur. Saint Agur is made from cows milk from the village of Beauzac in central France. This is a rich cheese with 60% butterfat which qualifies it as a double-cream cheese. I do prefer this type of blue over a Stilton or Roquefort as it’s very creamy.

The cheese melts away into the focaccia and the peaches become sweet and slightly caramelized. Once the focaccia is out of the oven and has cooled, I add a drizzle of honey and thin slices of prosciutto to each piece. This focaccia makes for a really nice appetizer to serve at a party. It’s something unique and different from a traditional focaccia. The salty, sweet and slightly funky flavour works so well together. If you’re feeling experimental and bold give this focaccia recipe a try and let me know what you think!

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peach & blue cheese sourdough focaccia

Ingredients

• 100 grams active sourdough starter
• 415 grams filtered water
• 40 grams of olive oil (plus more for drizzling in the baking dish and on top when it’s time to bake)
• 15 grams fine sea salt
• 515 grams organic unbleached flour
• 2 baby gold peaches (peeled)
• 2 oz blue cheese (I like Saint Agur)
• 8=10 slices of prosciutto (thinly sliced)
• honey for drizzling

Directions

1. In large bowl add starter and filtered water. Mix this together with a wooden spoon. Add sea salt and olive oil. Mix together. Add flour and mix everything together until combined. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for 30 minutes.
2. Perform five coil folds every 30 minutes.
3. To a 13- x 9-inch baking dish, add a piece of parchment paper and coat the bottom in olive oil (about 3-4 tbsp). Transfer the dough from the bowl to the baking dish. Cover with a kitchen towel and let this proof overnight on the counter for 12 hours.
4. After the focaccia has proofed for 12 hours, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. The dough should have spread out in the pan overnight. Drizzle olive oil on the top of the focaccia and apply a few drops of olive oil to your hands and rub them together (this will ensure that the dough doesn’t stick to your hands). Perform dimples in the focaccia using your finger tips. Season generously with sea salt or flaky salt. Carefully tuck in sliced peaches and crumbled blue cheese on top (you want to tuck the peaches and cheese in carefully so that you don’t pop any of the bubbles).
5. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until the focaccia is golden.
6. Once the focaccia has cooled, slice into square pieces and drizzle with honey. Add slices of prosciutto to each piece.

Notes

I like to making the focaccia dough at around 5-6pm so then it has time to proof overnight for 12 hours while I’m sleeping. In the morning I will bake it at 9am.

You can use any blue cheese you like. I like to use Saint Agur because it’s buttery and the consistency is reminiscent of a triple cream brie. It’s smooth and I find it less pungent than a traditional blue cheese.

You can use any peaches for this but I would recommend to use a firmer peach like baby gold.