Stuffed Whole Wheat Focaccia with Arugula, Feta and Sun Dried Tomatoes

Stuffed Whole Wheat Focaccia with Arugula, Feta and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

I made the dough from scratch, but you might as well buy fresh whole wheat pizza dough and start from there. If so, all you need to do is to knead ¼ cup olive oil into the pre-made dough before making the focaccia. That simple.

Ingredients

Makes 16 focaccia squares. Note I did not say “servings”. That’s between you and your focaccia.

Dough

1 ½ cup / 400 ml warm water (between 105°F and 115°F)

4 ½ cups / 600 gr whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

¼ cup / 50 ml extra-virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons sugar

3 teaspoons fine grain sea salt

Stuffing

2 large handfuls arugula salad

1 cup crumbled feta cheese

1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, coarsely chopped

Directions

Dough

Place warm water in a large bowl and add dry yeast, sugar and salt. Let stand until yeast dissolves. After 5 to 7 minutes, it should be a bit foamy. If it’s not, you might have some bad yeast (or the water was too warm) and should start again with another packet.

Add whole wheat flour and olive oil and stir to blend well (the dough will be sticky).

Drop the dough onto a floured surface (or leave it in the bowl) and knead it until it becomes smooth and elastic, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls if the dough is too sticky to work.

The dough will be soft and pliable and extremely easy to work with.

Form dough into a ball and coat with a bit of olive oil. Place it in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let raise in a draft-free place until doubled (it should take about 1 ½ hour).

Make the focaccia

Punch the dough down and divide in half.

Coat a 15x10-inch baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

Using your fingertips press out half of the dough to a rectangle filling the baking sheet.

Top with arugula, feta cheese and sun-dried tomatoes.

On a floured surface with a rolling pin, stretch the remaining half of the dough into a rectangle 15x10-inch wide. Carefully place it on top of the stuffing. Trim the top if needed, then press the top and bottom dough together at the edges.

Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise while the oven preheats to 425°F (220°C).

Just before baking, dimple the dough with your fingers, leaving indentations.

In a small bowl combine 2 tablespoons of olive oil, ¼ cup of water and 1 teaspoon of salt. Drizzle the dough with this olive oil brine.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the top is golden. Let sit for 10 minutes before cutting into square. Then have at it while it’s still warm. Just make sure not to burn your tongue.