4:30pm Tuesday.  We’ve been in isolation for 1 week now.  I’ve made it a point to have a list of things to do every day.  No sitting around all day although every evening has been movie night.

Dinner will be the split pea soup I made yesterday.  Not being able to just run out to the store for bread I made this quick Focaccia to go with our soup.  This recipe doesn’t have yeast because it’s not something people readily carry at home (unless you normally make bread which I don’t)  so it’s not as fluffy and light but will do.

I am not a baker.  All the precise measuring is too stressful to me, plus I never got fractions so 1/8 of a cup makes no sense!   What I’m getting at is that this bread is really easy to make.  The best part?,  it’s ready in 25 minutes.

You can top your focaccia with anything you like. I used what was in my fridge,  olives, rosemary and asiago cheese.  Other ideas are sliced tomatoes, red onions,  caramelized onions (I have some in my freezer!), roasted garlic or basil.

No Yeast Focaccia Bread

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt (sea salt and coarse fleur de sal – to sprinkle over top)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons crushed dried basil
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• Toppings: olives, onions, garlic, whatever you like!

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 inch baking pan.
2. Pour the water into a bowl
3. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt, and add it to the water. Mix together with hands until it forms a ball.
4. Place the dough into the baking pan. Using oiled fingers, spread dough to 1/2-inch thickness. Dough will be sticky and elastic. It does not have to be perfectly even
5. Rub the top and sides of dough with olive oil then sprinkle with garlic powder, coarse salt and basil.
6. wet your finger and press them into the dough all the way until you hit the pan to make holes or indentations.  I then added the olives into these holes.
7. Add your toppings
8. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.
9. Remove from oven; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and return to oven.
10. Bake until just golden, or about 5 minutes.

Cool on a rack and serve.

Cleaning up while the bread bakes for 20 minutes

Hope you’ll try making this super easy bread.  Keep in mind that because this bread has no yeast it’s not good to store for too long.  I made a small loaf today (with 1/2 the ingredients posted above) , just enough for dinner.

Love,

Jennifer