Focaccia di Recco, a deliciously hearty bread hailing from northern Italy, will fill your kitchen with the aroma of baking and your mouth with creamy, melted cheese. Fall in love with the unique texture of this traditional dish, and let each bite transport you to the sun-drenched streets of Liguria.
A classic dish from the Liguria region in northern Italy, Focaccia di Recco is not your ordinary flatbread. This awesome dish is an unleavened bread, simple in its ingredients but with a charm that’s difficult to resist.
Focaccia di Recco is traditionally stuffed with a delicate cheese known as Stracchino, or sometimes Crescenza. As a very young cheese, Stracchino is characterised by a thin, barely formed rind that encloses a core of creamy cheese similar to mascarpone in consistency, but with its own unique flavor. While a little messy to handle, the result of combining this cheese with the hearty bread dough is simply genius. 
The name ‘Stracchino’ has a humble origin, believed to derive from the Italian word ‘stracca’, meaning ‘tired’ or ‘strained’. This term supposedly referenced the tired cows that migrated to the plains of Lombardy, producing a rich, fatty milk that forms the basis of this cheese. The young cheese was then brought to Liguria by merchants and traders, becoming a beloved ingredient in the local cuisine.
If Stracchino proves hard to find, alternatives can be used without sacrificing too much of the traditional character of this recipe. Fresh mozzarella (or even better, buffalo mozzarella), for instance, with its smooth, malleable texture and mild taste, is a perfectly viable substitute.
The recipe can yield more dough than needed, depending on the desired size of your focaccia. Don’t fret over excess, though. The dough can be stored well-wrapped and frozen for several months, or you could simply opt for a thicker crust. It also makes the focaccia a little easier to handle.
Stuffed Italian Flatbread: Focaccia di Recco
- Total Time: 0 hours
- Yield: 16 pieces 1x
Description
Focaccia di Recco, a deliciously hearty bread hailing from northern Italy, will fill your kitchen with the aroma of baking and your mouth with creamy, melted cheese. Fall in love with the unique texture of this traditional dish, and let each bite transport you to the sun-drenched streets of Liguria.
Ingredients
- 500 g 4 cups, spooned and scraped all-purpose flour
- pinch course sea salt (plus extra for topping)
- 45 ml 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for oiling and topping
- 300 ml 1 1/4 cups water
- 500 g a little over a pound Stracchino (Crescenza) cheese (alternatively, fresh mozzarella)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour and salt and form a well in the middle. Add cold water and 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Start mixing the dough with a fork, incorporating the flour little by little.
- Once the dough has come together, start kneading it with your hands. Knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes, until smooth. When the dough is ready, wrap it well with plastic wrap, being sure to expel all the air so your dough doesn’t dry out, and let it rest for an hour at room temperature.
- Preheat oven to 480°F/250°C.
- Divide the dough into two equal parts and roll each piece out on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin, trying to keep them as round and as thin as possible. I rolled these ones a little thick, because we find it easier to handle when it’s more sturdy, but traditionally it should be almost transparent.
- Grease a round pizza tray (not the type with holes in it, or you will have a very messy oven) or baking dish with olive oil. Place one layer of dough on the bottom of the dish. Add the cheese in pieces using your hands.
- Cover the cheese with the second sheet of dough. Use a knife or a pair of kitchen shears to remove any excess dough from around the edges of the pan.
- Seal the edges by pinching them together. Snip small holes into the top layer of dough so that the steam can escape during baking. Brush with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
- Bake in centre of oven for 6 – 8 minutes, until golden. When the focaccia is done, remove it from the oven and let cool enough to be handled.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Resting Time: 1 ht
- Cook Time: 8 mins
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Italian
Delicious! I make mine with different cheeses and spinach and garlic.
Oooh, that sounds amazing!