Foccacia with Pears, Caramelized Onions, and Blue Cheese

I received a Kitchen Aid for Christmas in grey! Funnily enough, it has yet to come out of the box. My kitchen is small, so it’ll likely make its home in the garage until I call it to duty. After coming across a focaccia recipe on Eat, Live, Run [which happens to be one of my most favorite food blogs that I follow], I thought it may be the time to bust it out. I thought wrong. I made that delicious focaccia, but it wasn’t anything unwieldy that my arms couldn’t handle. So alas, my grey beast still sits in the box.

Other than the family roll recipe that I’ve made that has been passed down from my great-grandma, I haven’t really made bread before. While I know yeast yields one of my most favorite foods ever [bread!], I’m usually too impatient to wait for dough to rise. It’s a shame. I’m trying to work on it.

This focaccia recipe is almost too simple. The hardest part for me is finding a clean part of my counter to work on [photos someday]. I usually end up moving to the kitchen table, which is occasionally a challenge thanks to Roma [the blue heeler] and her never-ending curiosity. The dough really didn’t rise very much for me, but I blame that on the ridiculously cold weather we’ve been having. The kitchen/living room just isn’t a dough happy place. Next time, I’m moving the dough to the laundry room with the door shut. That’s easily the warmest room in the house. Even with the vertically challenged dough, it still tasted great. It rose quite a bit in the oven, yielding a much fluffier dough than I expected. That works out well for me since I’m a carb-aholic, but if you want it crispier make sure you roll it out thinner and on a bigger cookie sheet [or one of those fancy pizza stones]. The combination of the pear, onion, and blue cheese was really mild. Did that stop me from eating half of the bread in one sitting? NOPE! Yeah, it couldn’t be helped. It was a snack turned dinner after all. Next time [and there will be a next time], I’m going to have to change up the ingredients a bit, roll it out a little more, and cook it a little longer.

Focaccia with Caramelized Onions, Blue Cheese, and Pear
Adapted from Eat, Live, Run

Ingredients

• 1 cup warm water [about 100 degrees]
• 1 package dry yeast
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup olive oil [plus more to drizzle]
• 1 large yellow onion, sliced very thin
• 1 large pear, sliced thin
• 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

Preparation

• Stir together yeast, honey, and warm water. Give them a few minutes to get to know each other.
• Add flour, salt, and olive oil and mix well.
• Continue to add flour until your dough no longer sticks to the bowl or your hands.
• Knead for six minutes or so until the dough becomes a smooth round ball.
• Place in a bowl rubbed with oil, cover with a towel, and move to a warm place for an hour [Important!!].
• About 15-20 minutes before the dough is done rising, caramelize your onions with a little bit of oil. Again, patience is a virtue. Keep them on a medium high heat, stirring often until they become golden brown. Don’t rush.
• Pre-heat your oven to 450º.
• If you haven’t sliced your pear, do so now. I waited because I didn’t want it to start turning colors.
• After your hour is up, take the dough out of the bowl and take your aggression on it with a punch.
• Roll the dough or spread with fingers on your pan of choice. It was really easily manipulated. I liked it.
• Dimple the dough with your fingers, and drizzle some more olive oil across its now dimpled surface.
• Layer your onions and pears before sprinkling the blue cheese on top generously.
• Stick that baby in the oven for 20-25 minutes until your desired level of golden brown is achieved.
• Optional: Eat all in one sitting while standing at the stove. Why bother with formalities?