Focaccia with Caramelized Onions, Roasted Tomatoes, Arugula & Feta

Directions to make Focaccia

Thaw the pizza dough. Place the pizza dough in a bowl with a little oil on the bottom to prevent sticking. Cover the bowl with a hand towel and place in a warm spot. Let the dough thaw and rise. This will take several hours. You can take the dough out of the freezer and place in refrigerator overnight for a quicker process the next day.

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. When the dough has risen, flour your rolling surface. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin and place on a sheet pan (pre greased with oil) or pizza stone. If your dough is not fully covering your pan, you may place a hand towel over the dough on the pan and let it re-rise. I recommend placing on top of the stove top where it is warm from the oven preheating. Once dough has risen in the pan, using your hands, spread the dough to the edges of the pan.

In a small bowl, combine some sunflower oil with a pinch of salt and pepper. With a basting brush, brush the oil mixture lightly onto the dough. Bake in the oven for 8-12 minutes. Time will vary depending in the size of the dough and what you are baking it on. You are looking for a very pale color crust (not brown).

When the dough is ready, remove from oven. Spread evenly, your caramelized onions, roasted tomatoes and feta cheese onto the dough, leaving about 1 inch crust on the edges. Before returning to the oven, baste the crust with more oil mixture. Heat in over for about 5-10 minutes or until crust is almost golden brown. Add the arugula to the top and cook another 2 minutes.

Directions for Roasted Tomatoes

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Oil a shallow baking pan or sheet pan. Arrange tomatoes, cut sides up, in pan with salt and pepper. Roast tomatoes until skins are wrinkled and beginning to brown on bottom, about 30-45 minutes. Remove from oven and transfer to a bowl.

Directions for Caramelized Onions

Use a wide, thick-bottomed sauté pan for maximum pan contact with the onions. Coat the bottom of the pan with sunflower oil. Heat the pan on medium high heat until the oil is shimmering. Add the onion slices and stir to coat the onions with the oil. Spread the onions out evenly over the pan and let cook, stirring occasionally. Depending on how strong your stovetop burner is you may need to reduce the heat to medium or medium low to prevent the onions from burning or drying out. Cook for 30 minutes to an hour more, stirring every few minutes. The trick is to let them alone enough to brown (if you stir them too often, they won’t brown), but not so long so that they burn. After the first 20 to 30 minutes, lower the stove temperature. Once finished, set aside.

Note on recipe:

Focaccia is just like pizza and can have many different varieties of toppings. Experiment and have fun with it. You can make it as light or hearty as you want it to be.