Lemon Pesto Focaccia

A stick of Lemon Pepper focaccia sits on a cutting board with a napkin and knife.

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Lemon Pesto Focaccia combines lemon pepper pesto and a zippy garlic oil baked right into the bread....no need to dip into a flavored oil.

Prep Time1

Cook Time35

Total Time1 35

Course: Bread

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: focaccia, Pesto Focaccia,

Servings: servings

Calories: 489kcal

Author: Helen S. Fletcher

Equipment

9"x9" oven proof dish or pan

Ingredients

Lemon Pepper Focaccia

¼ cup walnuts or pine nuts (25 grams)
¾ cup basil leaves, packed (28 grams)
3 large garlic cloves
½ cup parmesan or sharp asiago cheese (40 grams)
2 tablespoons lemon zest
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 to 5 tablespoons olive oil

Zippy Garlic Oil

¾ cup olive oil (Extra Virgin or Virgin)
¾ teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 large garlic cloves
½ rind of large lemon

Lemon Pesto Focaccia Dough

3 ½ cups bread flour (490 grams)
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 ⅓ cups water
⅓ cup lemon pepper pesto
3 tablespoon zippy olive oil
2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast (7 grams)

Instructions

Lemon Pesto Focaccia

Toast the walnuts at 350°F for 5 to 7 minutes until ligltly browned and fragrant. Cool before using.
Pull the leaves off the stems of the basil stems. Rinse and dry them well.
Place all the ingredients except the oil in the bowl of a processor and process until finely cut together.
Add the smaller amount of oil first and see if it makes a paste. if not, add the remainder of the oil. You want more of a paste than it swimming in oil
Using a disher/scoooper or a spoon, drop the pesto on a sheet of parchmenet and freeze. When they are hard, place them in a freezer proof bag. Thaw as many as needed.
I dropped mine with a #100 disher/scooper which is 2 teaspoons. If I need 2 tablespoons, I know that is 3 balls. See my Numbers and Sizes of Dishers/Scoopers for a list that includes all the sizes and how much is in each size.
Yield: 10 to 11 balls of pesto.

Zippy Garlic Oil

Place all the ingredients in a small saucepan.
Bring to a simmer and simmer for 5 minutes.
Immediately, strain out the solids and cool the oil. Store in the fridge.
Yields: About ¾ cup

Lemon Pesto Focaccia

Combine the flour and aalt in the bowl of a mixer. Whisk to mix. Fit the bowl with a dough hook if possible.
Combine the water, lemon pepper pesto, zippy garlic oil, and instant yeast. Whisk to blend completely.
Pour over the flour mixture and mix on low initially to combine the ingredients Raise the speed to medium or whatever your mixer suggests and beat for 3 to 4 minutes. The dough will come together and clean the bowl. It will be soft and slightly sticky. If it is not, add another tablespoon of water at a time until it gets to that consistency,
Spray a container at least twice as big as the dough with a non-stick baking release and transfer the dough to the container. Turn it over so the top is coated. Cover directly with plastic wrap, put the top on the container and mark the time on it. Let it double in bulk.
At this point I suggest you refrigerate it overnight to make it easier to shape and deepen the taste.
The next day, spray the sides of the baking dish as above. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of zippy garlic oil. Rotate the dish to coat the bottom.
Remove the focaccia from the fridge and lightly flour your work surface. Pat the into a slightly larger than 9" x 9" square. Lift it into the dish and let it rise until doubled either at room temperature or in the oven proofer. See the notes in the header of the post if you are not familiar with this technique.
Preheat the oven to 425°F. While the oven is preheating, dimple the dough using your four fingers. The holes should stay open if the dough is properly risen.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the top is deeply browned. Immediately upon removing from the oven, brush the top with the remaining oil Cool completely
While most yeast products are best the same day they are made, this bread can be held loosely covered for several days.
Freezing the bread. It can be baked and stored in the freezer, well wrapped for a couple of months. Thaw at room temperature and then freshen in a preheated 350F oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

Notes

There is always an abundance of photos to guide you in the post above. If you have questions, look at the photos or read the header of the article. Many of them will be answered there.

As always, I recommend using a scale for accuracy and consistency. Flour, in particular, is difficult to measure by volume. For my recipes, I use 140 grams per cup of unsifted all-purpose, bread or whole wheat flour and 125 grams of cake flour. Others may use different weights so use whatever they suggest.

Unless otherwise noted, salt refers to table salt.

Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.

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Toast the walnuts to bring out the most flavor.

Parmesan or Sharp Asiago can be used

Extra virgin or virgin olive oil is recommended for the best taste.

The garlic cloves should be large. If not use an extra one or two.

Bread flour is best with yeast. All-purpose can be used but the results won't be as high or as light.

I add my instant yeast to the wet ingredients to soften it as I have seen little bumps in some yeast breads where the yeast has not dissolved.

If store bought pesto is used, add the zest of a lemon. If it is very oily, place it in a strainer to remove some of the oil.

Beat the dough for about 4 minutes to activate the gluten.

Refrigerate overnight to increase the flavor and make it easier to shape.

Dimple the dough to the bottom of the dish. The holes should not close in. If they do, let it rise a bit more. Test it with on or two holes.

Extra virgin olive oil which is cold pressed or Virgin olive oil is best because it contributes a lot to the taste of the finished product.

At the end of the basil season and before it goes to seed, make pesto, shape into balls and freeze for a taste of summer during the off months.

This Lemon Pepper Pesto is excellent when used to finish pasta.

Nutrition