A few months ago Bon Appetit released this recipe for an easy no-knead focaccia recipe, by one of my favorite recipe writers, Sarah Jampel. Needless to say, I have made this recipe more than any other recipe over the last several months, maybe ever. Like the title, it is so shockingly easy, and absolutely perfect every time. Sometimes we make just as is, with lots of garlic butter over top, and set up a dipping station with marinara sauce and even a ranch style dipper. We’ll make a big salad and call it dinner. Other times we like to treat this focaccia like a pizza, and get creative with toppings. We have done everything from thinly sliced potatoes, to summer squash, a pizza style with marinara, and now my most favorite, this Tomato Garlic Confit.

Tomato confit is something that I make all summer long once the tomatoes are plentiful. I’ll mix into pastas, top over grilled bread, spoon over hummus, or eat by the spoonful. It is my most favorite flavor of summer. At the end of every season, I make large batches of tomato confit, with all sizes of tomatoes, and freeze them in big ziplock bags. Throughout the year we use this as pizza sauce, pasta sauce, and for soups. Give it a try, it is wildly easy, and just simply the best.

As you will see, this recipe calls for a 13x9” baking pan to make one large focaccia, which is what we normally do. But half of my family wanted one toppings, and the other half wanted another, so I simply took this dough, after it had been in the fridge overnight, and divided it into 2 buttered cake pans to continue rising for 3-4 hours. One recipe, 2 focaccia’s, everybody wins!

For the flour, feel free to play around with mixing in some other whole grain flours. 625 grams of all-purpose makes a beautiful focaccia, but it can be fun to add in some whole wheat or spelt. For this tomato garlic confit focaccia, I actually did 400 grams of All-Purpose, and 225 grams of Spelt. This partially happened because I ran out of AP (ugh), and I have been wanting to try using more spelt in my baking. The result, deliciousness.

Tomato Garlic Confit Focaccia
Serves 10

Focaccia
2¼ tsp active dry yeast
2 teaspoons honey
5 cups (625 g) all-purpose flour
5 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 Tbsp. Morton kosher salt
6 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus more for hands
Unsalted butter for pan
Flaky sea salt

Tomato Garlic Confit
2 pints cherry tomatoes, stemmed
4 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
5 sprigs fresh herbs (oregano, thyme, rosemary)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

STEPS:

Prep the Focaccia the night before by whisking the active dry yeast, 2 tsp. honey, and 2 1/2 cups lukewarm water in a medium bowl. Allow to sit for 5 minutes, it should get a little creamy and foamy.

Add flour and kosher salt to the bowl and mix thoroughly together with a rubber spatula. Add 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil into a big bowl, and transfer the dough into the bowl, and turning it to coat in the oil. Cover with plastic wrap or a silicone lid and place in the fridge overnight.

The next morning, generously butter a 13x9” baking pan, and add 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil into the center of the pan.

Take 2 forks, gather up the edges of the dough farthest from you and lift up and over into the center of the bowl. Rotate the bowl a quarter turn and repeat, do this on all sides. Now transfer the dough to the buttered pan. Adding any oil still in the bowl over top. Turn the dough to coat it in all the oil, and set aside in a warm spot for 3-4 hours to double in size.

In the mean time, make the Tomato Garlic Confit.

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Spread tomatoes, garlic, and herbs on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and top with a large pinch of salt and several grinds of pepper. Bake until tomatoes are wrinkled and fragrant, about 2 hours, shaking pan once or twice. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Store any tomato leftovers in an airtight container with the oil over top.

Turn the oven up to 450 degrees and place a rack in the middle. The dough should now be spread out to the size of your baking pan, but if not, oil your hands and gently stretch it out. Now dimple the focaccia all over with your fingers, this will be very fun.

Take your slightly cooled tomato garlic confit and spoon on top of the dough, making sure to pour some of the tomato oil juice over everything. Season with flaky salt and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. I like to lift up one of the edges to make sure it is nice and crispy, if it is still soft, I’ll go for another 5 minutes.

Remove from the oven, allow to cool for a few minutes, and then transfer it to a wire rack to cool a little longer. The wire rack helps keep that bottom nice and crispy. Slice and serve.