Peach Focaccia with Arugula

It’s that time of year again…awards time for film and television. The Oscars, the end all be all awards ceremony, airs on Sunday, March 4th this year. In light of recent events and news of sexual assault/harassment being rampant in Hollywood, this year’s event will prove to be interesting at the very least. Are you planning to tune in? Well, if so (or even if not), you should totally plan to make my super easy peach focaccia topped with arugula and balsamic vinegar inspired by the nominee for Best Movie “Call Me By Your Name.”

I chose Call Me By Your Name this year as my recipe inspiration in honor of our upcoming trip to Italy since the film is also based in that most delicious country. Yep, that’s right, we are currently planning a two week trip to celebrate our 10-year wedding anniversary! And we couldn’t possibly be more excited! Italy has been at the top of our bucket list for…well…ever. We said we’d do it for 10 years no matter what. And guess what? We are! I’m gonna eat all of the pasta and gelato!

So when Haley at CheapRecipeBlog.com asked me again to participate in this recipe round-up and I ended up with this film, it didn’t take me long to come up with this super easy recipe. Focaccia is popular all over Italy, but Cinque Terre (one of the stops on our trip) is the supposed home of the delicious bread because we’ve seen it mentioned a ton during our research. Cut into squares or wedges, it makes a great appetizer or a side along with some other main dish. Focaccia is the perfect bread for sandwiches and can easily be made savory or sweet. It is doughy and yeasty, like a super thick crust making it the perfect vehicle for lots of toppings turning it into a pizza style flatbread or open faced sandwich.

With that in mind and the knowledge that there is apparently a somewhat salacious scene featuring a peach in the movie, I thought hey, why not? Why not make fococcia baked with peach slices? And while fresh peaches aren’t really in season yet making them impossible to find, good canned or jarred peaches will actually work just fine. These will be sliced super thin and baked into bread so we’re not looking for the perfect fresh seasonal fruit here. Trader Joe’s has jarred peaches stored in white grape juice that work well, in fact, it’s what I used here. You will just want to rinse and dry them well.

Peach Focaccia with Arugula

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Ingredients

  

• 1-2 peaches peeled and sliced very thin
• 1 1/3 cup warm water about 110°F*
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 0.25 ounce package active-dry yeast
• 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil plus more for drizzling
• 2 teaspoons flaked sea salt
• fresh basil leaves
• 1-2 cups arugula
• balsamic vinegar

Instructions

 

• Add warm water (*about 110°F, which you can measure with a thermometer if you want to be sure it’s the right temp) and honey to the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough attachment, and stir to combine. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the water. Give the yeast a quick stir to mix it in with the water. Then let it sit for 5-10 minute until the yeast is foamy.
• Turn the mixer onto low speed, and add gradually flour, olive oil and salt. Increase speed to medium-low, and continue mixing the dough for 5 minutes. (If the dough is too sticky and isn’t pulling away from the sides of the bowl, add in an extra 1/4 cup flour while it is mixing.)
• Remove dough from the mixing bowl, and use your hands to shape it into a ball. Grease the mixing bowl (or a separate bowl) with olive oil or cooking spray, then place the dough ball back in the bowl and cover it with a damp towel. Place in a warm location (I set mine by the window) and let it rise for 45-60 minutes, or until the dough has nearly doubled in size.
• Preheat oven to 400°F. Turn the dough onto a floured surface, and roll it out into a large circle or rectangle until that the dough is about 1/2-inch thick*. Cover the dough with a greased piece of plastic wrap, and let the dough continue to rise for another 20 minutes.
• Remove the plastic wrap, and transfer the dough to a large baking sheet. Use your fingers to poke deep dents (seriously, poke all the way down to the baking sheet!) all over the surface of the dough. Spread an even layer of peach slices all over top of dough. Then drizzle a tablespoon or two of olive oil evenly all over the top of the dough, and sprinkle with sea salt. Top with 10-15 fresh basil leaves.
• Bake for 20 minutes, or until the dough is slightly golden and cooked through. Remove from the oven, and drizzle with a little more olive oil if desired.
• Top with fresh arugula and drizzle with balsamic vinegar.
• Slice, and serve warm.

Check out these other great bloggers and their Best Movie nominee inspired recipes!