2247. FOCACCIA with CRISPY BACON, VIDALIA ONION, ROSEMARY and FETA CHEESE

makes one 10x16-inch focaccia


1 1/2 – 2 pounds store bought pizza dough
olive oil as needed
6-7 slices bacon
1/2 cup thinly chopped Vidalia onion
1 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1/2-3/4 cup sliced halved cherry or grape tomatoes
1/2 cup sliced pitted black olives
approx. 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Roll the dough out on a floured surface into a 9 x 12-inch rectangle.

Add a generous amount of olive oil to a large baking tray. Add the dough and cover with plastic wrap or a piece of parchment paper and let it rise a bit in a warm place.

Crisp up 6-7 slices of bacon. Drain on paper towels, then pour off most of the rendered bacon fat and add about 1/2 cup thinly chopped onion and 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary and cook to soften.

Once the onions have softened, let them cool down completely. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Crumble the cooked bacon and combine that with the cooked onions. Add a few sliced grape tomatoes, a few sliced pitted black olives and a handful of crumbled feta cheese.

Toss that together and add it to the top of the focaccia dough, pressing it in with your fingers and pressing outward as you go.

Place the tray on the center rack of the preheated oven. Let it go for about 10 minutes, then take it out of the oven and brush a little olive oil around the outside edge of the dough. Place it back into the oven, rotating the tray halfway. Let it finish baking and browning up. It'll take approx. 25 minute's total. Cool on a cooling rack to help keep the bottom crust nice and crisp.


bacon recipe courtesy of: Dan Eaton, YNN Rochester, 71 Mt. Hope Avenue, Rochester, New York 14620, June 7, 2011