focaccia bread that multitasks

For today's food for thought friday I wanted to share my favorite focaccia bread recipe (and it's not my favorite just because it's bread-machine friendly!). This recipe makes a great focaccia bread but it also makes a yummy dough perfect for homemade pizza.

When warmer weather hits we love to take the dough, halve it, then roll it into to good size, thin pizza crusts, top with our favorite toppings, and grill it brick-oven style on our Williams-Sonoma Grill-Top Pizza Stone (now the Pizza-Que Pizza Stone). It also works great simply rolled out on a cookie sheet, topped half with cheese and half with cheese and pepperoni (can you tell I've got kids?), and baked until cheese is bubbly and slightly browned.

Easy Focaccia Bread
2 3/4 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp white sugar
1 T active dry yeast
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried basil
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 T vegetable oil
1 c water
2 T olive oil
1 T grated Parmesan cheese
1 c mozzarella

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, sugar, yeast, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, basil and black pepper. Mix in the vegetable oil and water. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Punch dough down; place on greased baking sheet. Pat into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Brush top with olive oil and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm.

To prepare this recipe in a bread machine simply add the ingredients in the order you normally would for a bread machine recipe (liquids first, then dry ingredients, and then yeast). Then follow the rest of the directions for baking.

Speaking of "dough" I love this quote by J. Paul Getty:

If you can count your money, you don't have a billion dollars.

Hmmm...guess I don't have a billion dollars...yet. --Emily