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Focaccia Sandwich With Peperonata And Smoked Scamorza
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Focaccia Con Peperconata

Let's make a focaccia con peperonata from scratch: This is not a focaccia recipe. It's about a delicious focaccia sandwich with fresh pesto, crisp arugula, seared peppers, and smoked scamorza.
Prep Time 1 day 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings 3 people

Ingredients

Focaccia:

  • 500 g flour
  • 5 g instant dry yeast
  • 375 g tepid water
  • 10 g salt
  • 65 + 50 g olive oil

Peperonata:

  • 3 red bell peppers sliced into 1cm strips
  • 2 red onions sliced thinly (vertically not horizontally!)
  • 1 tbsp baby capers or larger ones, chopped roughly
  • 30 g balsamic vinegar
  • 2 sprigs rosemary
  • 1 clove of garlic crushed but remained whole
  • salt
  • 1 dry chili

Pesto:

  • 10 sprigs of basil
  • 100 g rocket
  • 30 g parmesan
  • 10 almonds
  • 1 small garlic clove peeled
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • salt
  • 100 g olive oil

To assemble the sandwich:

  • 1 Focaccia cut into 6
  • Peperonata
  • Pesto
  • Rocket
  • Smoked scamorza sliced

Instructions

Focaccia:

  • A day in advance - in a large bowl, mix the flour, yeast, salt, water, and 65 g olive oil only until homogenized. Cover the bowl with a towel, after 30 minutes, ´knead the dough, by lifting two opposite sides and folding them together, then turning the bowl 90° fold again, then once again turning and folding. Cover the bowl with cling film and place in the fridge for 12-24 hours.
  • When ready to bake, preheat oven to 220℃
  • Coat a heat proof pan with the remaining 50 g of olive oil. transfer the dough into the pan, and use your fingertips to roll it out and stretch it to fit the pan.
  • Bake for 20 minutes, transfer onto a rack and let allow to cool.

Peperonata:

  • In a heavy bottom pan, place the dry chili, garlic clove, and rosemary. Add a generous layer of olive oil, and let infuse on a medium heat, about 3 minutes.
  • Increase the heat and add the onions and peppers. Let them get some color, stirring occasionally, about 4-5 minutes, then add the balsamic vinegar, and lower the heat slightly, cover the pan and let cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, careful not to burn the bottom. Add the capers, and cook for 3-5 minutes longer, until the peppers and onions are cooked through but not mushy. (think roasted peppers, rather than onion jam).
  • Discard the garlic clove and rosemary stalks.

Peso:

  • Blitz everything together.

To assemble the sandwich:

  • Preheat oven to 200c Broiler setting
  • Slice open each piece of focaccia. Spread pesto on each side, topping the bottom side with peperonata and the top side with sliced scamorza. Broil for about 5 minutes till the cheese is melted. Add rocket and don´t share it with anyone, because it also tastes great cold.