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!