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What it all means is that when entertaining, there’s a need for hors d’oeuvres, canapés, and tapas. It can be anything from dips, tea sandwiches, meatballs, to sliders, oysters 🦪, pâtés, and so on. Another dish that fits very well in this category is my Pear, Bacon, Onion & Blue Cheese Focaccia!
This is a mouthful of deliciousness! The combination is stunning, and it reflects fall’s 🍂 produce perfectly! Unpretentious, it can be enjoyed as a casual hors d’oeuvre or as a mid-afternoon snack. This flavorful bread is an ideal item to serve when entertaining.
The dough recipe is similar to my Tomato Rosemary Focaccia 🍅, with a few slight changes. As in most of my bread recipes (both savory and sweet), I add a little sweetness to it. It improves the texture, balances the flavor, and also gives that rich, golden-brown crust.
When processed on speed 4, the dough has to form a ball. If it’s too sticky, add flour a tablespoon 🥄 at a time. I normally use 1 ½ tablespoons. The dough will still be very sticky, but as long as it pulls away from the sides and bottom of the bowl, don’t add more flour.
From here, I oil only one hand (I need one clean hand when filming 🎥) and form a ball by pulling the dough under. Then it is swirled around in a lightly greased bowl, covered, and transferred to a draft-free area such as the oven. It sits there for 1:30 to 2 hours or until it doubles in size.
My kitchen is always pretty cool during fall and winter ⛄. To place the dough in a cozy environment, I turn the oven heat on to 350°F for a couple of minutes while it’s processed in the stand mixer. The slightly warm oven helps to speed up the rise.
If you feel lazy or have limited time and don’t want to make the dough from scratch, you can always take a shortcut by using puff pastry. If so, lay a couple of rectangles of puff pastry on an oiled baking sheet, and simply go straight to spreading the cream cheese and adding the rest of the toppings. Bake at 400°F for 12 minutes ⏰ or until golden brown.
While it’s rising, I caramelize the onion slices 🧅. After they’ve cooked for 12 minutes, they can be transferred as is to a bowl. I prefer a “jammy” texture, so I leave them in the skillet and add broth. As soon as the mixture starts simmering a lot, I place the slices in a bowl. Both ways, I use a slotted spoon.
Back to the homemade dough…
After its first rise, the dough is punched, pulled under to make a ball, covered, and left for another quick rise of 15 minutes ⏳. During that time, use a brush to oil a 9×13 baking sheet. This prevents the focaccia from sticking and creates a crispy bottom crust.
The next step of making this Pear, Bacon, Onion & Blue Cheese Focaccia is fun…
With our fingertips, we make dimples on top of the focaccia dough, which is the signature technique of this bread. The top is brushed with oil from the bottom of the bowl where the onion slices have been sitting. It gives a nice flavor, and why waste it❓ If there isn’t enough, use regular olive oil.
The dough is par-baked for 10 minutes before adding the toppings. Doing this step prevents a soggy crust and firms up the top, creating a sturdier base that will hold the ingredients. Also, it starts the cooking process of the bread hence, the ingredients don’t overcook and are protected from burning 🧯.
After it’s par-baked, the cream cheese is spread evenly, leaving ½ inch around the edges before overlapping the thinly sliced pears 🍐. Then, caramelized onions, bacon and blue cheese join the party! It’s cooked for 15 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through.
The aroma is divine and hard to resist slicing 🔪 into it. With strong willpower, it needs to rest for 5 to 7 minutes. From here, drizzling on my homemade Balsamic Glaze and sprinkling on some fresh chopped parsley before portioning.
This Pear Bacon, Onion & Blue Cheese Focaccia recipe is always a crowd-pleaser! With a lovely balance of contrasting flavors and textures, this pillowy bread is perfect to serve on any occasion 🎄. It’s a delightful take on an Italian classic bread…
Bon Appétit! 🍽
Check out these other tasty bread recipes… 😀
– Challah
– Mediterranean Olive Bread
– Ciabatta Bread
– Pull-Apart Garlic Bread
– Man’oushe – Lebanese Flatbread
– Onion Buns/Bread
– Georgian Cheese Bread • Khachapuri
– French Baguettes
– Dinner Rolls
– Indian Naan Bread
and for even more bread recipes 🍞🥖, click on this link… Recipe Category • Bread & More
For ingredient amounts, directions, and much more, visit ➡
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