Focaccia Messinese is a Sicilian style focaccia as made in Messina with semolina flour added to the dough for a crisp and chewy texture. Topped with anchovies, tuma cheese, escarole and cherry tomatoes this focaccia makes for a great lunch or snack!
This focaccia Messinese is unlike your typical cherry tomato topped focaccia. A savory combination of anchovies, tuma cheese, escarole and cherry tomatoes makes this focaccia hearty and satisfying.
You may also recognize this list of ingredients, which consists of the same filling found in my pitoni Messinese, Sicilian fried calzone. So this recipe is basically an unstuffed version of these calzone.
This is Sicily’s fast food and whether you are looking for a quick lunch or snack you can find pitoni, focaccia Messinese, arancini and a multitude of other Sicilian rosticceria treats in bars and cafés all over Sicily. These are without a doubt a far cry from North American fast food!
I also adapted my easy no knead pizza dough recipe by swapping out some of the all-purpose flour for semolina flour for this recipe. Which means that you can put together this easy focaccia recipe with very little effort!
Why add semolina flour to pizza dough?
You’ll immediately notice that the crust for this focaccia is not as high and fluffy as your typical focaccia dough. That is due to the semolina flour added to the dough (flour made from durum wheat) which is traditionally used for this recipe.
More specifically, I used semolina rimacinata, which is a double milled flour with a finer texture. In a pinch you can also use regular semolina flour for this recipe.
I opted for a ratio of 1/3 semolina flour and 2/3 all-purpose flour and was satisfied with the result. Semolina flour adds a chewier and crisp texture to this dough which has a satisfying bite to it.
You may also try experimenting with the ratio of all-purpose flour to semolina flour. Try half-half or even 2/3 semolina flour and 1/3 all-purpose flour. Each of these combinations work well for this recipe.
You may purchase semolina at your local grocery store usually located in the same aisle as other varieties of flour or it can also be purchased here.
What is escarole?
Escarole is a slightly bitter leafy green that you’ll usually find alongside lettuce at your local grocery store.
However, you may find these greens labelled as curly endive, frisée or chicory, all terms that are often used interchangeably. In fact these are all plants which are part of the chicory family.
Ingredient list
For the dough
- All-purpose flour
- Semolina rimacinata: double milled semolina flour or regular semolina flour.
- Active dry yeast
- Salt
- Olive oil
- Water: warmed until lukewarm
For the toppings
- Anchovies packed in oil
- Tuma cheese: this soft cheese is tradionally used for this recipe. However, if you don’t have access to tuma (as I did not find any on the day I made this focaccia) substitute with scamorza (shown above), caciocavallo or even mozzarella.
- Escarole: also known as curly endive, frisée or chicory.
- Cherry tomatoes
- Olive oil
- Salt
The following are step by step instructions with images to guide you through this recipe. Please scroll to the end of this post for the detailed printable recipe card.
How to make this recipe
Prepare the dough
- In a large bowl stir together the all-purpose flour; semolina flour and yeast.
- Heat the warm until lukewarm and stir into the dry ingredients.
- When most of the water is incorporated, stir in the salt and olive oil.
- The dough will be raggedy and quite sticky, this is normal.
- Cover and place in a warm part of your kitchen for a minimum of 6 hours or up to 24 hours.
- After the resting period is over, generously grease a 9 x 13 inch pan with olive oil.
- Scrape the dough into the pan with a spatula, it will be very sticky. Use your finger tips to spread out the dough to cover the entire pan. Cover and let rest for 1 hour.
Prepare the toppings
- While the dough is resting in the pan, prepare the toppings.
- Cut tuma cheese, or cheese of your choice, into cubes.
- Wash and dry the escarole well and chop into bite sized pieces. Be sure to dry it well to prevent the dough from becoming soggy.
- Wash and dry the cherry tomatoes and cut in half.
Assemble the focaccia
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- After the one hour resting period, top the dough with anchovies.
- Evenly distribute the cheese on the dough.
- Cover with the chopped escarole and cherry tomatoes. It may appear to be a lot of escarole, but no worries, it will wilt down during baking.
- Drizzle olive oil over the toppings and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper, if desired.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until the focaccia is golden brown and crisp underneath.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly before cutting.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
Recipe Notes
-Instead of 2/3 AP flour and 1/3 semolina flour, you may try using half/half AP and semolina or even 2/3 semolina and 1/3 AP flour.
-You can also use pizza dough made entirely with AP flour such as my easy no knead dough recipe.
-If you can’t find tuma cheese, use caciocavallo, scamarza or mozzarella instead.
-Let the dough rise, at room temperature, for a minimum of 6 hours or up to 24 hours.
-If after the 6-24 hour rise you change your mind and decide not to make pizza, shape it into a ball, wrap it and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
-Bring the dough back to room temperature before shaping it.
-Keep leftovers refrigerated for up to 3 days. Reheat in your oven.
-You may also freeze leftovers, well wrapped, for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator and reheat in your oven.
More no knead pizza dough recipes you’ll love!
- Easiest No Knead Pizza Dough Recipe
- Chicory, Egg and Cheese Stuffed Pizza
- Mortadella, Pistachio and Mozzarella Stuffed Rolls
- No Knead Fig and Walnut Bread
- No Knead Fig and Rosemary Focaccia
- Sfincione Bagherese
- Parigina Pizza
- Homemade Pizza Rolls with Ham and Cheese
- Olive and Cheese Buns
- Paprika and Garlic Herb Bread
- Scacciata with Sausage and Potatoes
- Scacciata with Cauliflower and Black Olives
- No Knead Skillet Focaccia Bread
- Fried Pizza Dough (pizza fritta)
Ingredients
For the dough
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup semolina flour
- 1 tsp. active dry yeast
- 1½ cups water lukewarm
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
Toppings
- 5-6 oil packed anchovy fillets
- 200 grams tuma cheese (about 1 1/2 cups, cubed)
- 1/2 bunch escarole
- 150 grams cherry tomatoes (about 1 cup, halved)
- olive oil for drizzling on top
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
Prepare the dough
- In a large bowl stir together the all-purpose flour; semolina flour and yeast.
- Heat the warm until lukewarm and stir into the dry ingredients. When most of the water is incorporated, stir in the salt and olive oil. The dough will be raggedy and quite sticky, this is normal.
- Cover and place in a warm part of your kitchen for a minimum of 6 hours or up to 24 hours.
- After the resting period is over, generously grease a 9 x 13 inch pan with olive oil.
- Transfer the dough to the pan and use your finger tips to spread out the dough to cover the entire pan. Cover and let rest for 1 hour.
Prepare the toppings
- While the dough is resting in the pan, prepare the toppings.
- Cut tuma cheese, or cheese of your choice, into cubes.
- Wash and dry the escarole well and chop into bite sized pieces. Be sure to dry it well to prevent the dough from becoming soggy.
- Wash and dry the cherry tomatoes and cut in half.
Assemble and bake
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- After the one hour resting period, top the dough with anchovies.
- Evenly distribute the cheese on the dough.
- Cover with the chopped escarole and cherry tomatoes. It may appear to be a lot of escarole, but no worries, it will wilt down during baking.
- Drizzle lightly with olive oil over the toppings and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper, if desired.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until the focaccia is golden brown and crisp underneath. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly before cutting.
- Cut into squares and serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
-You can also use pizza dough made entirely with AP flour such as my easy no knead dough recipe.
-If you can’t find tuma cheese, use caciocavallo, scamarza or mozzarella instead. How long does the dough need to rise? -Let the dough rise, at room temperature, for a minimum of 6 hours or up to 24 hours. Can the dough be refrigerated? -If after the 6-24 hour rise you change your mind and decide not to make pizza right away, shape it into a ball, wrap it and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
-Bring the dough back to room temperature before shaping it. Storage: -Keep leftovers refrigerated for up to 3 days. Reheat in your oven.
-You may also freeze leftovers, well wrapped, for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator and reheat in your oven. -Please note that the nutritional information provided is approximate and may vary according to exact ingredients used and portion size.
Nutrition
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i enjoyed making this recipe, and it was satisfyingly yummy.
Hello Dan, I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed it, it definitely is satisfying! Thanks again!
Hello,
I would like to make this focaccia. What’s the amount of the water (missing in the ingredients list)?
Thanks,
V.
Hello Vesella, you can always find the detailed printable recipe card at the end of each post. In fact you can also jump directly to it with the handy “jump to recipe” at the top of each recipe post as well. Hope this helps!
Maybe I’ve missed it – I suppose water shall be added to the other dough ingredients, but I cannot find how much of it is needed.
Vesella please forgive me, of course that amount was missing! It is 1 1/2 cups of water and now been corrected. Thank you for reaching out to me once again!
Looks amazing, Nadia!
I was intrigued to see that the escarole is placed on the focaccia raw. My instinct would have been to cook it first, but as you say it seems to cook down just fine. Will definitely give this one a go.
Thank you Frank, indeed it works well as you can see in the photos it is slightly crisp. The key is to make sure you dry it well before adding it. Hope you enjoy!