What could be better than a mattress of focaccia painted with glistening peppery olive oil, the occasional crunch of salt crystals, and a soft, pillowy interior that creates an insatiable appetite for more?
Almost nothing, apart from simply another version of a focaccia – this time with a layer of succulent grapes folded into the centre of the dough. Grapes, which burst in your mouth as you bite through the focaccia.
It’s perhaps even more beautiful than the OG focaccia, and tastes sublime on its own, or paired with pecorino and a glass of Vin Santo.
Despite its perhaps intimidatingly impressive appearance, it’s very easy to make.
I used muscat grapes which are small and very sweet. But if you can’t get them, use any small-ish grape you can get your hands on. Mine had seeds, so I recruited my family to slice them in half and de-seed them before I incorporated them into the bread. Of course, if you don’t mind the crunch of the odd seed, feel free to use the grapes whole and leave the seeds in place.
Grape Focaccia Recipe (Makes 3)
Ingredients
14g dried active yeast (2 sachets) or 25g fresh yeast
2 tbsp sugar
675ml lukewarm water
7 tbsp olive oil (4 tbsp for the dough + 3 tbsp for topping)
1kg white spelt flour (or plain, if not available)
2 ½ tsp normal salt
1 tbsp coarse sea salt
900g grapes – ideally muscat, concord or isabella, but if not, whatever you can find
3 tbsp granulated sugar (optional)
3 x 25cm square cake/bread tins (or tins with the equivalent area), greased with olive oil
Method
1) If using fresh yeast, cream it together in a large bowl with the sugar until it turns to liquid. Then, stir in the water and oil. If using dried active yeast, mix it with the sugar and water, and let it sit in a warm place for five minutes to activate. Then, stir in the oil.
2) Into the wet ingredients, stir in the flour and salt –it should form a sticky, craggy mass. If you have a stand mixer, fit it with the dough hook and knead the dough for five minutes. If you are making the bread by hand, pour the dough on to a lightly floured board and knead until smooth and springy, so that it bounces back when pressed. I like to use the dough hook for most of the kneading, taking it out when it's almost done and finishing by hand.
3) Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film and allow to rise for about 1 to 1 ½ hours until doubled in size.
4) Punch down the dough (so. much. fun.) and divide it into six equal pieces. Each focaccia will use two pieces of dough. For the first focaccia, take one piece of the dough, then stretch it, or roll it out, and place it in the first tin to cover the base so that it is even in depth and reaches the sides (you may need to do a bit of gentle pummelling to do this). Then scatter over 150g of grapes. Then cover with a second piece of dough, rolling it out to the size of the tin and then draping it over the top of the grape-covered piece. With your fingers, press down the edges of the dough to create a seal. Then, sprinkle over another 150g grapes, and dimple the dough with your fingers, pressing almost to the bottom of the tin.
5) Repeat with the remaining four pieces of dough for the second and third focaccias.
6) Allow to rise for a further 45 minutes to an hour until each is almost doubled in size.
7) Preheat the oven to 190°C. Then gently paint the surface of each unbaked loaf with 1 tbsp olive oil. Sprinkle each loaf with 1/3 tbsp coarse sea salt and, if you like, 1tbsp granulated sugar.
8) Place in the oven to bake for 15-20 minutes, or until deep golden in colour and crunchy on top.
9) Remove from the oven and place on a baking rack to cool.
Best eaten whilst slightly warm on day of baking. Or, place in an air-tight box and freeze for up to 3 months.
