Picaccia: pizza focaccia

I love food mash-ups and I’ve added another one to my list: Picaccia. Picaccia is a cross-over between a pizza and a focaccia. It means that you make a focaccia bread and top it like a pizza! On this page I’m sharing the recipe to make your own Picassia (pizza focaccia).

A food mash-up is a great way to create new dishes by combining two favorites. I already shared several food mash-up recipes on my blog like Courgetti (courgette spaghetti), Tortizza (tortilla pizza) and Fawaffles (falafel waffles). This time I made a mash-up between a pizza and a focaccia; Picaccia.
I first heard about Picaccia when I had a high wine at Anne & Max restaurants. I tried to find a recipe for a picaccia but it doesn’t seem to exist yet, so I decided to create it myself. I started with making a focaccia from scratch. Which is actually quite easy!
Before the focaccia went into the oven, I topped it like a pizza. You can of course use any kind of topping as you like. I created a vegetarian version with Parmesan cheese, mozzarella, red onion and tomatoes. I shortly fried the red onion and marinated it with balsamic vinegar from Mazzetti for extra flavor.
On this page you find the recipe for my pizza-focaccia mash-up Picaccia. The recipe is for 1 big Picaccia.

Recipe Picaccia

Ingredients:
250 grams flour
150 ml warm water (not too hot)
1/2 bag of yeast
1 teaspoon powdered (caster) sugar

Olive oil
Pinch of salt
Extra flour for covering

Toppings:
Parmesan cheese
Mozzarella
6 cherry tomatoes
1 red onion
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Handful rocket

Put the flour with a pinch of salt in bowl. Make a well in the middle.
Put the yeast and powdered sugar in the bowl with the warm water. Mix with a fork. When dissolved, let it rest for a few minutes. It’s ready when a foam layer has appeared on top. This will take about 5 minutes.
Pour the water in the well of the flower while stirring with a fork. When everything is combined, use your hands to kneed the dough. It won’t take long until you have a soft, stretchy dough-ball.
Lightly grease a bowl with olive oil. Put the ball of dough in and dust with a little extra flour. Cover with a clean towel and set in a warm place for 30 minutes to rise.

In the meantime you can cut the cherry tomatoes in half and cut the mozzarella in small pieces. Slice the red onion. Warm some olive oil in a pan and shortly fry the onion on medium heat. Turn the fire to low and add the tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. Stir for one more minute and take of the fire.

Pre-heat the oven to 220C.

Put the dough ball on a parchment lined baking tray. Use your hands to make a flat focaccia shape. Use your fingers or the back of a ladle to make small holes in the dough that are typical for a focaccia.

You can now top the focaccia with the toppings of your choice. I first sprinkled some Parmesan cheese over it and topped it with mozzarella slices, the marinated red onion and the cherry tomatoes.

Bake the picaccia for 20-25 minutes until golden. Top with the rocket.