brussels sprouts & gruyère focaccia

This focaccia is terribly, thoroughly, utterly devoid of whole wheat flour. It’s thus also chewy and springy and light, when sliced reveals an cobwebby crumb, and tastes of delightfully unadulterated carbs.

I love the flavours of whole grain but there is a part of me – probably the part that remembers growing up on plain white rice and craving plain white bread (though only being given whole wheat bread) – that wants nothing more than plain white flour and salt and fat. And besides… there are some textures that I find hard to achieve once I start bringing in whole grains.

The dough, from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s The Bread Bible, is a wonderful carb base for anything you so desire (even just salt and fat! maybe a fragrant olive oil fat). This time I topped the focaccia with a more swiss/germanic/french vibe: onions, brussels sprouts and gruyère, somewhat flammekuchen/tarte flambée gratinée-inspired. It’s a wonderfully hefty topping on a springy and fluffy focaccia base!

I usually make this focaccia as a one-day affair which necessitates it as a weekend sort of thing – but then you have plenty of bread that can act as dinner and lunch and … well, everything in moderation, of course.

You can bake it either in a 9×13″ pan (photos above) or more freeform spread out onto a baking tray (photo below from an earlier batch).

• Servings: one focaccia
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Dough from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s The Bread Bible. Makes one focaccia baked either in a 9×13″ baking tin or more freeform on a half sheet pan. 

dough

• 300g all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp coarse kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp instant yeast
• 240g water
• 1 tbsp olive oil

topping

• about 8 brussels sprouts, trimmed and sliced lengthwise into four slices
• olive oil 
• salt
• 1/2 small onion, thinly sliced
• 1 sprig thyme 
• 50g grated gruyère – or I’ve also used aged white cheddar 

To make the dough, combine all the ingredients in a bowl with a wooden spoon. Once a rough dough is formed, cover with a damp cloth and let rest for 20 minutes.

To knead in a mixer, use the dough hook (about 10-15 minutes on medium speed; probably quicker on a higher speed) and work the dough until very stretchy and elastic and at least close to passing the windowpane test. It will become less sticky as you go on.

To knead by hand, as it’s a very well hydrated and sticky dough, this is a time to use the slap and fold method à la Richard Bertinet (Beranbaum describes a method to do with pinching the dough to elongate it but I expect it accomplishes the same thing). Pick up the dough in both hands and slap it down on the countertop. Pull the part of the dough you’re holding towards you to stretch the dough, then fold it in half. Pick up the dough again, but this time from a 90 degree angle so that when you slap it back down the dough is rotated 90 degrees. Repeat. Throughout the process the dough will be very sticky, but that’s okay! Relax, tell yourself it’s okay that my hands are coated in sticky dough, and try not to use any additional flour. I find the best way to keep myself motivated about kneading is to listen to music – this dough is a three-song knead (about 10 minutes). By the end, the dough should be supple and stretchy, and perhaps less sticky than it began.

Return the dough to the bowl, cover with the damp cloth, and let rest twenty minutes. Then fold the dough right in the bowl; wet your hand or use a wet or oiled bowl scraper scrape up one edge of the dough and stretching it to the other side of the bowl, then turn the bowl 90 degrees and repeat. Let rest another 20 minutes and repeat the folding. You can also do coil folds (this link illustrates).

Let the dough rise until it appears about doubled, about 2 hours.

To bake in a 9×13″ pan, add about 1 to 1 1/2 tsp of olive oil into a 9×13″ metal baking tin and spread it around with your hands to completely grease the interior of the tin (you want it well oiled, but not sopping in oil, as too much oil makes it harder to stretch out the dough). Scrape the dough from the bowl into the pan, turning it over so both sides are coated in oil. Use your fingers to push and stretch out the dough to fit the pan. If it springs back on you, cover the pan, let the dough relax 15 minutes, and then stretch the dough again. Repeat another time or two if needed. Cover the dough with plastic.

Or, to bake a bit more freeform, line a standard half sheet pan baking tray with parchment paper. Scrape out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat or roll into a rectangle which will comfortably fit onto a half sheet pan and transfer the dough to the pan. Dust with flour and drape with plastic wrap.

Either way, allow the dough to rise until bubbly and it appears somewhat doubled in height, another 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

For the topping, bring a saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the sliced brussels sprouts and cook about 2-3 minutes or until they are just beginning to get tender. Drain well and spread out over a paper towel on a plate or board to let the slices dry. Once cooled, drizzle with a bit of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and toss lightly to coat.

Near the end of the rise, preheat the oven to 450F.

Use your fingers to dimple the dough by pushing them straight down into the dough to the bottom; move along the bread until it is dimpled throughout. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle with a bit of salt (there will also be cheese for saltiness, so it doesn’t need too much). Sprinkle with the onions, most of the brussels sprouts and the leaves picked from the sprig of thyme. Then sprinkle over the cheese, and arrange the remaining brussels spouts over top.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the bread and cheese and browned and the edges of the brussels spouts are charred.

Update notes: recipe slightly, along with photos, updated Jan 2024.