Tomato and chive focaccia
This gluten free and dairy free focaccia makes good use of the spongy quality of gluten free bread flour. By using a variety of heritage tomatoes (also called heirloom) you can play around with the colour and pattern of the topping. An anodised aluminium baking tin (about 20 x 30cm) produces a good crispy crust but you could also use a square or round cake tin.
Ingredients
450g white gluten free bread flour (blend of rice, potato and tapioca flours with added xanthan gum)
a pinch of salt
2 tsps quick yeast
2 tbsps caster sugar
a large handful of chives, chopped or snipped
350 ml non-dairy milk (I used hemp but you could use unsweetened soya)
2 tsps balsamic vinegar
2 large eggs
6 tbsps extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for greasing and drizzling
about 500g heritage tomatoes (variety of sizes and colours)
1 tbsp capers
2 tbsps pitted black olives, sliced
20g pine nuts
freshly ground black pepper
Method
- Line the baking tin with well oiled baking parchment.
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour, salt, yeast, sugar and most of the chives.
- Warm the hemp or soya milk (in a pan or microwave) and beat in the eggs and vinegar.
- Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and mix well, then add 6 tbsps of oil and continue mixing. You should now have a very sloppy unpromising looking mess - more like a thick batter than a dough.
- Spoon this into the prepared baking tin, level it out as best as you can, then cover and leave it to rise in a warm place for about an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 220C (200C fan).
- When the dough has risen, slice the tomatoes (or halve any cherry or small plum tomatoes) and arrange them in a grid pattern on top. (If you have used a round cake tin you could opt for concentric circles instead).
- Place the sliced olives and capers in between, then scatter with pine nuts and any leftover chives.
- Season with black pepper, drizzle generously with olive oil and bake for about 40 minutes.