Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Olive Cherry Focaccia Pizza ("Fopizza") for the Better Homes & Gardens Recipe Insiders Group


When the latest batch of Better Homes and Gardens Recipe Insiders recipes appeared in my inbox for review, I was immediately attracted to the flavors in this one. Salty, sweet, tart, spicy ... yep, that about covers it. Its original incarnation is as a bruschetta, and while I think that would be fab, you know I just had to Trixify this a little bit.  Rather than go with my favorite focaccia recipe, I made a Sicilian pizza dough I've worked with before  that I think yields something in between pizza and focaccia ... a topping delivery method I have dubbed the fopizza.


I also had a feeling that the ingredients here - dried tart cherries, green and black olives, goat cheese, prosciuttio, and cherry peppers - would come together nicely if heated, and not just combined as a tapenade, as with the bruschetta. I was right! And there are so many ways to eat this: have it for lunch or dinner with a salad and a glass of wine, cut it into tiny pieces and set it out for your guests to snack on before the Thanksgiving feast, or, if you happen to be having some unseasonably hot weather, take the leftovers and have a picnic, like Poppa Trix and I did:

I also considered using this topping on a homemade flatbread, and I will definitely try that at some point. The salty, sweet, and spicy elements here are in great balance and I would say they'd work on just about any carb of your choice!
Olive Cherry Focaccia Pizza
adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

One recipe Sicilian pizza dough (I love the one from Robbie's Recipes)

for the toppings: 
1 clove garlic, minced
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup oil-cured black olives, chopped
8 oz. goat cheese (chevre)
2-3 oz. thin prosciutto, roughly chopped
1/2 cup red-pepper or pimiento-stuffed green olives, sliced
1/4 cup dried tart cherries, chopped
1/4 cup hot peppadews, chopped
4-5 large basil leaves, cut in a chiffonade

Once you've made the pizza dough and it's been punched down, rolled out, and stretched to fit a 17 1/2 x 11 1/2 x 3/4 inch baking pan, while it's resting (about 15 minutes) cover it with plastic wrap and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Combine the olive oil and garlic and brush it all over the dough. Next add the black olives, goat cheese, and prosciutto and bake until the edges of the crust begin to turn brown - 25- 30 minutes; this will vary depending on your oven. Remove from the oven and add the green olives, dried tart cherries, and peppadews. Return to the oven for another couple of minutes. Before serving, top with the chiffonade of basil. 

If you've never made your own dough before, it's so worth it, and I have never had the Robbie's Recipe dough let me down. This is a perfect make-ahead dish and it's got huge bank for the buck. Your cocktail party or dinner or Thanksgiving guests will love you for this one!






23 comments:

  1. Like you I would have enjoyed this focaccia with olives with a glass of wine, lovely esp the cut pieces.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Olives and cherries? I can dig it! :D

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow. This is an amazing creation. I really really love it. Your pictures are great too, btw. I'm recently in a fight with my camera. I think we are about to break up.

    ReplyDelete
  4. That sounds like the right move to heat the ingredients. A lovely sweet-salty combination.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What an interesting combination of flavors! This looks so tasty

    ReplyDelete
  6. This sounds delicious...and that plentiful topping is so pretty, too. My mouth is watering at the thought of the tart and the salty...mmm!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Looks interesting. Might have to put this one on the to-try list.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh I just love all the topping o your new invention, the fopizza ;-) Especially like the olives here. So pretty.

    ReplyDelete
  9. This is an interesting yummi recipe!!! Have a great Thanksgiving!!xoxoxoxoxo, Flavia

    ReplyDelete
  10. This looks fantastic...what a unique array of flavors, love it!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Even when I'm punched down, rolled out, and stretched to fit I don't even fit into a size 34 let alone a 17. Maybe I should check out this Robbie. Not being an olive fan my husband, the big dummy, would probably find this out of his comfort zone so I would probably substitute the olives with pepperoni and well, yo know, the goat cheese would have to go too. Its so goatey. I think mozzarella would be just as good. I don't know where to get dried cherries so I would just leave those off. Yes, I can't wait to make this. My hubby will just love it.

    I think this would be good for a midnight snack too. You didn't say so but I think it would.

    ReplyDelete
  12. One of my favorite things is a moroccan flatbread with honey and harisa and olives with a little goat cheese... its just spectacular... sweet and salty and savory is just the best. Gorgeous dish and pictures... makes me want to reach out and eat a little.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Love your "fopizza" and all the components - esp. the dried cherries! With goat cheese and prosciutto - delish. I'll have to check out Robbie's dough recipe. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Awesome, what a cool combination of dried cherries and olives, a must try!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh my gosh! RAWR! This looks soooo good. I'm a bit of an olive nut, so I may be biased but this looks like the best pizza ever :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. This reminds me of my father's homemade veggie pizza. Loving all the ingredients. You are a pro at Trixifying food :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. everything about this looks absolutely perfect and like it's straight from the magazine cover!

    ReplyDelete
  18. coming back around to catch up on posts - this looks wonderful, kinda like a muffalatta pizza yet with a different ending of taste... like your choice of fopizza - it's a keeper for sure...

    ReplyDelete
  19. WOW! This sounds so perfect! It literally contains everything that I love, and I love how you played with the recipe to make it your own. Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  20. What a gorgeous and interesting take on pizza! I've been loving the combination of sweets and savories on just about anything lately so when I saw the cherries and olives I fell in love. And I have to agree, making your own pizza dough is the way to go -- always so flavorful and I love how rustic it ends up looking.

    ReplyDelete
  21. This is my first visit to your lovely blog. I found you because of Sis Boom and I knew I had to check you out. This Pizza looks amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  22. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Perfect post about focaccia pizza this. We all need a good hearty bread recipe to warm and fill our tummy's. Great recipe and thanks for sharing it.

    ReplyDelete