Imagine a soft, thick and fragrant Apulian focaccia courtesy of the potatoes added to the dough. It hides a tasty secret.

A surprise chiefly consisting of the red, ripe, sweet and succulent cherry tomatoes MotherNature offers us when summer is very close at hand. Some small, tender taggiasca olives pop up now and again between one bite and another. Velvety extra virgin olive oil – enhanced by tiny, tender oregano leaves – delights the palate. The aroma of basil leaves is offered by a little plant in the garden.

Authentic, wholesome, unmistakable, fundamental flavours. Those contained in jealously and proudly guarded traditional Italian recipes produced by generations of skilled hands working passionately and with dedication throughout the years.

Today we will teach you how you can make homemade Apulian focaccia. A recipe for a dish that is as simple as it is satisfying.

The ingredients and method are traditional but its presentation is really original: not your typical pan-baked focaccia but with a filling that makes it look like a cake.

Enjoy it warm on a spring Sunday, complemented by succulent burrata cheese.

Stuffed Apulian focaccia: the recipe

INGREDIENTS (for 6)

For the focaccia dough:

300 g of durum wheat flour
200 g plain flour
100 g Manitoba flour
100 g boiled and peeled potatoes
40 g extra virgin olive oil
300 g warm water
25 g fresh brewer’s yeast
two level teaspoons of table salt
one level teaspoon of sugar

For the filling:

500 g cherry tomatoes
60 g of taggiasca olives
a handful of capers
400 g burrata cheese
extra virgin olive oil as needed
salt, dried oregano and mild paprika to taste
a few leaves of fresh basil

METHOD

N.B.: The following ingredients can be used to make a 30-cm diameter stuffed apulian focaccia or two, traditional, average-sized, pan-baked focaccias.

Start by mixing the various flours together in a large bowl. Form a cavity in the centre.
In a separate bowl, dissolve the brewer’s yeast and the sugar in 100 g warm water. Pour this mixture into the cavity in the flours together with the oil, the remaining water and the mashed boiled potatoes.
Start mixing with a fork and then, as soon as it starts to thicken, empty the dough onto a lightly-floured surface. Now add the salt and knead it by hand for about ten minutes until it becomes smooth, even and elastic.
Put the dough in a bowl slightly greased with oil and cover it with a dishcloth. Place in a sheltered place without draughts to rise (I use my cold oven as a rising chamber). Let prove for 2 hours.
Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and add them to the olives and capers. Season with plenty of extra virgin olive oil, salt and oregano and leave to marinate. A touch of mild paprika will make it even tastier.
When the dough has doubled in size empty it onto a lightly-floured surface and stretch it out gently with your hands. Form quite a long, squashed sausage shape as wide as the palm of your hand. Brush the surface with the cherry tomato juices.
Spoon half of the tomato and olive filling out along the whole length of dough.
Roll the dough quite loosely so that it resembles the shape of a snail.
Turn it the right side up and put it into a 30-cm diameter cake tin lined with baking paper.
Put the remaining cherry tomatoes, olives and capers in any gaps that have formed in the dough and brush the surface of the focaccia with the remaining juices.
Leave the Apulian focaccia to rise for 1 hour.
Bake at 220 °C for 50 minutes.
Serve warm, garnished with fresh basil leaves and with some fresh burrata cheese on the side.