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Focaccia messinese with slice cut out on wood board.
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Focaccia Messinese Recipe

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!
Course Main Course, Snack
Cuisine Sicilian-Italian
Keyword Sicilian focaccia with escarole, tuma cheese and cherry tomatoes
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Resting time 1 day 1 hour
Total Time 1 day 2 hours 15 minutes
Servings 8 servings
Calories 339kcal

Ingredients

For the dough

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup semolina flour
  • 1 tsp. active dry yeast
  • 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

Substitutions and Variations:
-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.
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

Calories: 339kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 27mg | Sodium: 673mg | Potassium: 263mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 1123IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 56mg | Iron: 3mg