I love a good focaccia. Great pizza dough, olive oil, rosemary and salt. The flavors combine beautifully, and it's one of my favourite things to eat as an appetizer, or just on its own! So one day I got to thinking, why not play with flavours a bit, and instead of rosemary, add a few different toppings to the focaccia, just like they do in Puglia with their focaccia pugliese.

What is focaccia?

Focaccia is an Italian bread that is heavy on the olive oil (both in the dough and on the top and bottom). When it comes to toppings, a focaccia should be simple, not too complicated, because the way I see it, it would start to become a pizza if we add too many toppings. A traditional focaccia is topped with olive oil (surprise surprise!) good salt, and rosemary. This version varies slightly from the traditional, and I kept it simple by adding olives and onions. The sweetness of the onions and the salty flavour of the olives combine beautifully to make the perfect focaccia that is also a bit unexpected.
If you're eating focaccia in Italy, the thickness of the focaccia will depend on the area of Italy you're in. I've seen very thick focaccia, like the focaccia pugliese, and very thin, crispy focaccia too.
My focaccia is somewhere in between that. Not too thick, and not too thin, it's just right (in my opinion of course!).

What type of flour should I use in focaccia?

I used all purpose flour, and my focaccia always turns out great, but you can use bread flour as well. Either one will work.

How to make this Focaccia with olives and onions - step by step

Slice onions thinly. In a large pan, heat up 2 tablespoon of olive oil. Place onions in pan, season with salt, and on low heat, cook until they're softened, and slightly browned. Place to the side (photos 1 &2)

Cut kalamata olives in half lengthwise

Grease a baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Roll out pizza dough (check out my pizza dough recipe here) and place on baking sheet. Spread 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the focaccia (photo 3)

Top focaccia with cooked onions and olives (photo 4)

Bake in the oven at 400°F until focaccia is browned on the edges, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and top with a nice finishing salt, like maldon salt, rosemary and an extra drizzle of olive oil (photo 5)

Extra Tips For Making Focaccia with Onions and Olives:

You can make the pizza dough on your own. If you do, check out my no-knead pizza dough recipe.
If you're in a time crunch, you can also buy pizza dough at your local Italian grocery store.
When cooking onions in the pan, make sure not to overcook them, because they will finish cooking in the oven when the focaccia bakes.
The focaccia size is 11.5 x 17.5 inches. If you don't have a baking sheet this big, you can use less dough, or use all the dough, just keeping in mind that your focaccia will be on the thicker side.

More Pizza/Focaccia Recipes You Might Like:

If you’ve tried making this Focaccia with olives and onions, or any other recipe on the blog please let me know what you thought of it in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK, TWITTER, and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’ve been up to.

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Focaccia with olives and onions

This take on a focaccia uses olives and onions as toppings. The sweetness of the onions and saltiness of the olives combine perfectly to take this focaccia to the next level.

Course Appetizer

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 50

Total Time 1

Servings focaccia

Author Pina Bresciani

Ingredients

1 pizza dough (homemade or store bought)
5 cups yellow onions, sliced thinly
4 tbsp olive oil
¾ cup pitted kalamata olives
salt to taste

Instructions

Preheat over to 400°F. Slice onions thinly. In a large pan, heat up 2 tablespoon of olive oil. Place onions in pan, season with salt, and cook until they're softened on low heat, and slightly browned, about 40 minutes. Place to the side.
Cut kalamata olives in half, lengthwise.
Grease a baking sheet with 1tbsp of olive oil. Roll out pizza dough and place on the greased baking sheet. Spread 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the pizza dough.
Top focaccia with onions and olives.
Bake focaccia for approximately 30 minutes, or until focaccia is golden brown on the edges. Remove from the oven and top with a nice finishing salt, like maldon salt, fresh rosemary and a drizzle of olive oil.

Recipe Notes

You can make the pizza dough on your own. If you do, just search this site for "focaccia," and a great non-knead pizza dough recipe will come up.

You can also buy pizza dough at your local Italian grocery store.

When cooking onions in the pan, make sure not to overcook them, because they will finish cooking in the oven when the focaccia bakes.

The focaccia size is 11.5 x 17.5 inches. If you don't have a baking sheet this big, you can use less dough, or use all the dough, just keeping in mind that your focaccia will be on the thicker side.