Sun Dried Tomato Focaccia Bread
Today's new recipe? Gluten-free sun-dried tomato bread.
A Focaccia To Love
Moving season is upon us. Yes, Los Angeles has a moving season. Southern Californians do not like to move in cold weather- in other words, when the mercury dips below the 60º mark. 58 degrees? It's time for UGGs and cocoa and ordering in. Not for hoisting sofas up or down a flight of stairs. Are you crazy?
And yes. We are moving. Come June 1st or thereabouts we are joining the migrating, apartment swapping masses. We are weeding through the promises that bloom on Craigslist (a veritable bouquet of alluring superlatives). Amazing! Gorgeous! Light and bright! And the ever popular- HUGE! This whole searching (and so far, not finding) process inevitably makes me insanely hungry for bread. Not store bought bread. Freshly baked warm from the oven bread. The kind of rustic, crusty loaf that conjures the word hearth. And home.
Because when you're searching for a place to live, nothing whispers home to your soul like the yeasty sweet aroma of baking bread.
This gluten-free sun-dried tomato bread is crusty and tender.
Gluten-Free Sun-Dried Tomato Bread Recipe
We found some fabulously sweet sun-dried tomatoes at Trader Joe's for this new bread recipe. They were delightfully tender and not too chewy. I like my sun-dried tomatoes to resemble fruit, not leather. They gave this rustic bread a rich, Italian inspired flavor.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups sorghum flour
1 1/2 cups potato starch
1/2 cup almond meal or GF millet flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
4 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1-2 teaspoons minced garlic, to taste
1 1/4 cup warm water (115ºF)
1 teaspoon raw sugar
1 packet rapid dry yeast
2 organic free range eggs, beaten
3 tablespoons good olive oil
1 teaspoon mild rice vinegar (or lemon juice)
1/2 cup lightly packed sun-dried tomatoes (dry packed)
Instructions:
Warm the oven by turning it on and off. Line a 9-inch cake pan with a piece of parchment.
In a mixing bowl combine the sorghum flour, tapioca starch, almond meal, brown rice flour, dried basil, xanthan gum, sea salt and garlic.
In a large measuring cup add the sugar to the water and dissolve. Add the yeast, stir and set aside until the yeast gets happy and poofy. (The sugar feeds the yeast.)
Add the proofed yeast and liquid to the flour and begin beating to combine. Add the eggs, olive oil and vinegar. Beat for a minute or two until the dough is smooth.
Lightly chop the sun-dried tomatoes. Toss them into the dough. Stir to distribute.
Scoop the dough into the prepared pan, shape and smooth the top with oiled hands.
Set the pan in the warm oven, on the center rack, and allow the dough to rise. A quick rise of 20 minutes will produce a flat bread style rustic loaf (shown). A longer rise, until doubled in height, should give you a slightly higher loaf, depending upon your altitude and ambient temperature.
When the dough has risen, turn the oven on, to 375ºF.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until firm and golden. Note: At about 20-25 minutes I brushed the top with olive oil. This helps make a lovely golden crust.
Serve this flavorful bread warm from the oven, with authentic extra virgin olive oil. (See this book Extra Virginity for the truth about olive oils- thanks to my pal Gluten-Free Anna for the heads up on this book.)
Makes one 9-inch rustic bread