Garlic and Oregano Focaccia (Vegan)

 

A trip to the hills is never complete without stacking up herbs from the “nature shops” that sell the local produce. Sometimes, we even stop by the fields where herbs are being grown. Villagers are always welcoming and generous to let us pluck fresh herbs, thereby letting us experience the exhilaration of plucking and then shade drying our precious booty at home. The home stay in Munsiyari where we spent some time  last month had a small patch by the brook where peppermint flourished bountifully. We had endless cups of peppermint tea in the morning after long walks. It was like an elixir. We also plucked a lot of oregano from there. Of late, we have being enjoying oregano in our soups, veggies, stews and breads.  Used oregano in Garlic Focaccia last week. The combination was great. The bead had strong flavor of garlic and lovely aroma of oregano.


Here is the recipe –
Garlic Oregano Focaccia
Ingredients
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 ½ cups whole wheat flour (atta)
¼ cup olive oil
1 cup warm water
4 cloves garlic (minced)
1 ½ teaspoon instant dry yeast
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
About 2 teaspoons oil for oiling the bowl and baking tray
Some salt for sprinkling on the bread
Method
Dissolve sugar in warm water. Add yeast. Let stand for 15 minutes.
Sift together all purpose flour, whole wheat flour and salt.
From the ¼ cup olive oil, reserve 1 ½ tablespoon for drizzling on the bread. Mix the rest in the flour mix.
Add half the quantity of minced garlic. Add warm water and knead for 10 minutes till the dough becomes smooth and elastic.
Transfer the dough to a greased bowl. Cover and let it rise for 1 hour or till double in size.
Oil the baking tray, add dough, and stretch the dough to a rectangle (8 inch x 5 inch). Dimple the dough about a dozen times with the tip of your finger pointing straight down. Leave for 30 minutes.
When the bread has risen well, drizzle the remaining olive oil, sprinkle the remaining minced garlic, oregano and salt on the bread.
Bake in a pre heated oven at 190 degrees C for 25 to 30 minutes or until the top is well browned.

 Linking to Vegan Thursdays
Submitted for Yeastspotting




5 comments:

  1. I love the combination of garlic and oregano. Pizza but without the hassle of topping it and this would be fantastic with a big bowl of hot soup in winter. A lovely recipe and very frugal as well. Cheers for sharing Namita :)

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  2. I can so understand the joy of relishing nature's fresh bounty..I can imagine the fun with peppermint in tea which I am going to add to mine very soon. Thank you for sending those precious herbs and all your love with it. Love the bread, its texture , height and moreover the fact that you used fresh herbs in it.

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  3. Omg, wat a fantastic focaccia, highly flavourful and addictive vegan bread..

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  4. Hello Namita,
    That focaccia looks just awesome! I am so dying to make a trip to the hills to pluck fresh herbs! You lucky lucky you! :) Great use of the herbs here. I am definitely giving this a shot soon soon, but alas... using my shop bpught dry oregano!

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  5. Hello Binu, I love your healthy take on my recipes. Keep baking, keep sharing.

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