focaccia, in about 2 seconds

Okay, so not two seconds. But it feels like it.

This isn't so much of a recipe as it is my favorite party trick. 'Cause you put in pizza dough and some stuff, and you get bread. And as someone who has gone to great lengths to make bread (ask my boyfriend about the hoagie roll disaster of 2011--or, more positively, my uncanny success with challah) I can appreciate a quick solution to the yeast-driven woes of those of us who grew up with homemade bread and now find anything else unsatisfactory. (Damn you, parents with breadmakers!)

And it's a pretty solution at that.

~*~

1 ball pizza dough*
~1/4 cup olive oil or more, be generous**
1/2 tbsp coarse sea salt (this is a great place to use a yummy, fancy sea salt)

toppings

cherry tomatoes, sliced lengthwise
1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
kalamata olives, sliced lengthwise

other potential toppings

artichoke hearts, finely sliced
caramelized onions
sundried tomatoes (packed in olive oil)
anchovies
anything that won't burn to a crisp

*Different pizza doughs will do different stuff. They have different water and yeast contents. I know that Trader Joes' plain pizza dough has worked for me, but I'm sure others would. The general rule is to make it thinner than you think, to allow room to rise while baking and still be thick and crusty instead of too-fluffy and not foccacia-y. And, of course, keep an eye on it--mine was done at 1 hour but yours may be done earlier or later! Once it is golden brown on top, you should be good to go!

**Use this much olive oil. Don't skimp. Seriously. This is what makes focaccia so delicious and crusty and golden and glorious. Use more than you think you need. You can see in the pictures that mine had it pooling in the holes--this is ideal.

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Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Let your dough come to room temperature.

Spread a thin layer of olive oil in a 9 inch pie pan. Place your dough in the pan and flatten it, pressing it out towards the edges. Flip it a few times so both sides have a thin coating of olive oil.

Using your fingers, press divots into the dough. Use the photo above as a reference. You want to make as many of these as you can without making your dough into one big hole--the surface is supposed to be craggy and uneven.

Press in your toppings at even intervals. Take your 1/4-cup of olive oil and spread it evenly around.

Sprinkle on herbs and salt.

Bake until the top is golden brown. Mine took ~1 hour.

Dip in balsamic and olive oil, or use it to scoop up some soup. Yum!