Four Cheese Focaccia

I am very keen to bake this cheesy focaccia knowing that I can learn and taste several types of cheese with this bake.

This focaccia has 4 different types of cheese as part of its ingredients and they are Parmesan, mozzarella, Gorgonzola and Fontina. I am quite familiar with the use and taste of Parmesan and mozzarella but have not tried cooking or tasting Gorgonzola and Fontina before.

Both Gorgonzola and Fontina and Italian cheeses. Gorgonzola is a veined blue cheese, made from un-skimmed milk. It has a crumbly and semi-soft texture and taste quite salty with interesting flavour from its blue veins. The original Fontina cheese from Italy is fairly pungent and has quite an intense flavour but I wasn't sure how to distinguish its originality at first and bought the Dutch version of Fontina which is milder in taste for this bake.

This cheesy bread is as yummy as it looks and smells and it is gone very quickly...

Here's the recipe from Epicurious

(with my modification in blue)

2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

1/2 tsp sugar

1 cup lukewarm water

3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tsp table salt

5 tbsp olive oil

3/4 cup grated Parmesan

1 cup grated whole-milk mozzarella

1/2 cup finely crumbled Gorgonzola

1 cup grated Fontina

1 small onion, sliced thinly

1 tsp coarse salt, or to taste

Note: Using 1/3 of the recipe, I bake my focaccia in a 15 cm x 26 cm loaf pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment proof the yeast with the sugar in the water for 5 min, or until the mixture is foamy, add the flour, the salt, 3 tbsp of the oil (1 tbsp for 1/3 of recipe), and 1/2 cup of the Parmesan (about 2-3 tbsp for 1/3 recipe), and combine the dough well (I have added an extra one tbsp of water for 1/3 recipe because the dough is too dry). With the dough hook knead the dough for 2 min, or until it is soft and slightly sticky.

Form the dough into a ball, transfer it to an oiled bowl, and turn it to coat it with the oil. Let the dough rise, covered with plastic wrap, in a warm place for 1 1/2 hrs, or until it is double in bulk. The dough may be made up to this point, punched down, and kept, covered and chilled, overnight. Let the dough return to room temperature before proceeding with the recipe. Press the dough evenly into a oiled jelly-roll pan, 15 1/2 by 10 1/2 by 1 inches, and let it rise, covered loosely, in a warm place for 1 hour, or until it is almost double in bulk

In a bowl stir together the remaining Parmesan, the mozzarella, the Gorgonzola, the Fontina, the onion, and pepper to taste and sprinkle the mixture evenly over the dough. (I didn't grate the mozzarella and Fontina but just broke them up coarsely and combine with the rest of ingredients together). Drizzle the remaining 2 tbsp oil (2/3 tbsp for 1/3 recipe) over the cheese mixture and sprinkle the focaccia with the coarse salt. Bake the focaccia in the bottom third of a preheated 400°F oven for 35 to 45 min, or until it is golden brown, let it cool in the pan on a rack, and serve it warm or at room temperature.

Happy Baking

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