Rosemary and Sea Salt Focaccia Pizza with Lots of Yummy Toppings

We did quite a bit of pizza back in the UK, but our pizza stone is now packed safely away with 95% of our other belongings. We had the jones for pizza and had to devise a new way.

We had not done focaccia for awhile and figured we could do it in a cast-iron skillet (which gets nice and hot) and top it with all kinds of good things. In this case, we topped it with prosciutto, asiago and smoked mozzarella cheeses, cherry peppers, sun-dried tomatoes and a mixture of sage, rosemary and thyme. A good pinch of sea salt and you're off to the races.

We did the recipe as shown below, but with 5 minutes left in the baking, we turned the broiler on, put the toppings on, and gave it another 5 minutes under the broiler to melt the cheese and stuff. It came out wonderfully!

3 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup lukewarm water
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small red onion
1 sprig rosemary, leaves only
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
oil, for greasing

Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Stir in the yeast, then make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour in the water and 2 tablespoons of the oil. Mix well to make a dough, adding a little more water if the mixture seems too dry.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead it for about 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, until doubled in bulk. Punch down and knead the dough all a lightly floured surface for 2-3 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 425°F and grease a baking sheet. Roll the dough to a circle 1/2" thick, transfer to the baking sheet and brush with remaining oil.

Halve the onion and chop it into thin slices. Press the slices lightly onto the dough, with the rosemary and sea salt. Using a finger, make deep indentations in the dough. Cover the surface with oiled plastic wrap, then let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. Remove and discard the plastic wrap and bake the loaf for 25-30 minutes, until golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Serve in slices or wedges.