Focaccia Pizza

Focaccia pizza is what the name says: a combination of two crowd-pleasing Italian recipes: soft and airy focaccia and pizza toppings.

But wait! It’s much more than that. Focaccia pizza is what’s stuck in my memory and the memory of pretty much everyone raised by an Italian grandma.

About once a week, my nonna would bake three, four, or five pans of focaccia with different toppings and invite the whole family for dinner.

She would phone us and say: “Allora…domani faccio la pizza” (Hey…tomorrow I make pizza). We all knew what it meant!

So for me focaccia pizza is about love and memories of cozy extended family dinners during warm summer nights on the patio; my cousin and I fighting to get the crisp corner piece of the focaccia.

To make focaccia pizza, you’ll need simple but high-quality ingredients like flour for pizza, water, active dry yeast, extra virgin olive oil, salt, and toppings.

Like for regular pizza, getting the correct type of flour is essential.

While you can definitely use regular all-purpose flour, we recommend using flour developed for pizza making.

Our favorite is Neapolitan Caputo Pizzeria flour. If you can’t find Caputo, get something made for pizza.

Also, we recommend making focaccia pizza with a slightly thinner crust than your regular focaccia bread.

We recommend using a half-sheet-size pan (17 x 12 Inches or 43×30 cm).

This way, it’ll cook better and faster, get crispier, and have a higher topping-to-dough ratio.

In this blog post, we’ll show you how to make a focaccia pizza with tomato and mozzarella (Margherita style) and one with cherry tomatoes, olives, and dried herbs (Barese style).

Of course, you can customize your focaccia pizza, adding more or less cheese, veggies, and cold cuts and creating your own delicious creations.

Ingredients and substitutions for focaccia pizza

Quantities are in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

Flour for pizza

While you can use all-purpose flour or bread flour to make pizza, we recommend flour explicitly developed for pizza.

Our favorite is Neapolitan Caputo Pizzeria flour or Caputo Nuvola flour.

They are made with high-quality, unbleached soft wheat flour, have excellent hydration quality, and are incredibly easy to work with.

If you can’t find Caputo flour, try to get something made to make pizza.

Tip: Pizza flour has a higher protein content and stretchability than regular all-purpose flour. This is measured by the W value. Essentially, it means your pizza will be able to absorb more water, the gluten network will be stronger, and your pizza will have excellent structure while being very light and airy.

Water

Plain tap water is fine. If your tap water is not drinkable, then use still bottled water.

Since this recipe is for a quick and easy focaccia pizza, we recommend heating the water slightly to a lukewarm temperature to speed up the yeast work.

Avoid using hot water; it’ll deactivate the yeast.

Yeast

We recommend using instant or active dry yeast (Red Star or Caputo are good brands). These are reliable and produce excellent pizza.

If you use fresh yeast, you’ll need three times the amount of dry yeast.

Olive oil

Go for extra virgin olive oil if you can.

Salt and sugar

We recommend fine sea salt and a touch of sugar or honey to help the dough get some color as it bakes in the oven.

Pizza toppings

Focaccia pizza dough is like a blank canvas that you can paint with your favorite toppings.

There are no rules here, so pick your favorite ingredients.

Here we show you two basic pizza recipes:

• Barese style: cherry or plum tomatoes, olives, dried oregano, salt, and extra virgin olive oil.

• Margherita: tomato passata from an Italian brand, dried oregano, fresh mozzarella cheese or vegan cheese, optionally fresh basil.

US cups + grams measurements in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

Mix the dough

Add lukewarm water, sugar, and dry yeast in a small container and whisk fast to dissolve the yeast. Set aside for 1 minute.

Tip: The yeast granules should dissolve, and the water should bubble. That means the yeast is working. If the granules don’t dissolve, start over with a new yeast packet.

In a large mixing bowl, combine pizza flour and sea salt.

Add the water-yeast mixture and mix the ingredients with a wooden spoon for about 1 minute.

When the ingredients are almost combined, add the extra virgin olive oil and keep mixing for about two minutes until you get a wet and sticky dough.

Proofing

QUICK PROOFING: cover the bowl with a damp kitchen cloth or plastic wrap, leaving enough space between the dough and the fabric.

Transfer to a slightly warm oven that you turned on for 1 minute and then off or to a warm corner of your kitchen. Let proof for 1½ to 2 hours or until it doubles in volume.

SLOW PROOFING: Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for 8 to 36 hours. Then, take it out of the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 2 hours to reach room temperature.

After proofing, fold the dough on itself 20 times (it takes 1 minute) from the outside to the inside, in the bowl, with a spoon or spatula.

Transfer it to a baking tray lined with parchment paper brushed with oil, then drizzle the dough with some olive oil.

Tip: If you don’t want to use parchment paper, oil the baking tray with 3 to 4 tablespoons of olive oil, then add the dough.

Let the dough relax for 15 minutes, then wet your fingertips and flatten it across the baking tray. It’s ok if the focaccia dough gets wet.

Tip: If the dough pulls back as you flatten it, let it rest for 15 more minutes, and then try again. This can happen if you use a strong flour with a higher gluten content. Letting rest fixes the problem.

Second proofing

We recommend topping the focaccia before the second proofing.

Arrange halved cherry tomatoes and olives on the dough, covering the whole surface. Press the tomatoes slightly to sink into the dough.

Drizzle with more extra virgin olive oil, season with a few generous pinches of salt and oregano.

Let the focaccia proof a second time for about 1 hour. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450°F or 230°C.

Bake the focaccia for 18 to 25 minutes on the medium-low rack of the oven. It should be golden brown and crisp on top and bottom.

Variations

Margherita Focaccia Pizza

Make the pizza sauce in a bowl by stirring together tomato puree (passata), extra virgin olive oil, salt, and oregano.

Chop the mozzarella cheese into small chunks. If your mozzarella is watery you might want to let it drain in a sift for an hour or so.

Tip: Italian pizza sauce is not cooked. If you prefer cooking your sauce, feel free to do so.

Flatten the dough on the baking tray as instructed, then cover with the pizza sauce.

Set aside in a warm kitchen corner and let proof for 1 hour.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 450°F or 230°C.

Bake the pizza at 450°F or 230°C for 15 minutes on the medium-low oven rack.

Take it out of the oven and cover it with the chopped mozzarella cheese and grated parmesan cheese or pecorino romano.

Tip: For vegans, substitute non-dairy cheese, one that melts, for the mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

Put it back in the oven and bake for 5 to 10 more minutes or until the cheese melts, the crust is golden brown, and the bottom is fully cooked.

Cut into squares, top with fresh basil, and enjoy!

Make ahead: Focaccia is best when eaten a few minutes after it’s baked. However, you can make the dough a day in advance and let it proof in the fridge for 8 to 24 hours.

Storage: Let leftovers cool down at room temperature, then transfer them to an airtight container and store them in the fridge for 24 hours.

Freezer: Let the focaccia cool down completely, transfer to a freezer-friendly bag, and freeze for three months.

Thaw and reheat: Defrost the focaccia in the refrigerator for several hours or in the microwave with the thawing function for bread. Reheat in a preheated oven or air fryer at 400°C or 200°C for 3 to 5 minutes.

More focaccia recipes

• No-knead focaccia
• Focaccia di Recco
• Zucchini focaccia