Loaded Focaccia
Updated Dec. 10, 2024
- Total Time
- 15 minutes
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 10 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1½cups whole-milk ricotta or 6 tablespoons salted butter
- 1(9-by-12-inch) store-bought focaccia, or use flatbread or prepared pizza crust
- 2tablespoons chopped fresh herbs
- Flaky sea salt, as needed
- Hot or plain honey, as needed
- Extra-virgin olive oil, as needed
- Toppings of choice (see Tip)
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Preparation
- Step 1
Spread ricotta or butter generously on top of focaccia. Top with herbs, sprinkle with salt and drizzle with honey or olive oil if you like. Use a serrated knife to cut focaccia into 1½- to 2-inch pieces, then push the pieces back together.
- Step 2
Top with any combination of your favorite toppings (see Tip). To finish, drizzle with olive oil or hot honey (or both) and a sprinkle of sea salt.
- Top your focaccia with any of the following: prosciutto, salami, baby arugula or baby kale, cherry tomatoes (halved if large), olives, thinly sliced red onion, radicchio (sliced into ribbons), sliced persimmon, toasted walnuts, shaved Parmesan, crumbled blue cheese, bocconcini or mozzarella (torn into pieces), capers, pepperoncini, anchovies or sardines.
Private Notes
Comments
DARN. This looks so great but I was hoping some of this fabulous community would already have posted ideas of what did and did not work. As the acknowledgement goes, I used to be indecisive... now I'm not sure...
@KMoodus I’ve done fresh heirloom tomatoes and blue cheese—that combo warms up in your oven very nicely. A char on it from the broiler is good too. Drizzle with olive oil before or after. Lots of black pepper. Add a touch of green arugula and give it that Italian festive look. Great time of year for these. They are tasty look good and easy! Thanks for the reminder NYT.
It looks beautiful indeed, and I understand that an unfussy presentation is intended, but the pieces of prosciutto, arugula, persimmon and such randomly strewn across the cut pieces of focaccia looks to become a sloppy mess as guests serve themselves. Perhaps best to sacrifice appearance for cleanliness by cutting after fully assembled.
Made and everyone loved it. I added honey into the ricotta for a sweet flavor as the base, added baby arugula, topped with salt and pepper. drizzled balsamic vinaigrette and topped with candied pecans.
Agree photo vs reality would be quite a gap for a pickup appetizer, but ricotta and toppings on toasted (cooled) flatbread seemed reasonable. I spread ricotta, cut and reassembled on a board, and layered appropriately sized prosciutto and sliced persimmon on the individual pieces. Not as pretty as the picture, but good! I didn't want to mess with a green, but on reflection "scattering" blue cheese and arugula would work. Best not to overload and start with things that anchor well on the bread.
I brought this to a gathering, and people kept reaching for more. Excellent suggestion that seems effortful when you don’t have time to cook. I fried shallots in butter for the base. I halved the butter, but I think I’ll use 1/4 of what it calls for next time since it was a little rich. My grocery store was out of ricotta, so I used crème fraiche instead. Added a generous amount of arugula, sprinkled toasted walnuts, shaved Parmesan, and prosciutto. Drizzled hot honey, balsamic vinegar, and a generous amount of olive oil. Added flaky salt and peppered well. It is an easy crowd-pleaser that looks impressive without much effort.
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