Sometime last year, I vaguely remember watching a chef on TV making focaccia di recco. I had never seen this bread before but my mouth couldn’t stop watering as I watched. It looked like paper-thin flaky dough sandwiched with stringy melted cheese, finished with a good drizzle of olive oil. I wanted it. But since I wasn’t able to successfully find the proper cheese, I decided to go another route and make a sweet version. This hazelnut focaccia di recco is, to say the least, epic. The thin sheets of focaccia are filled with homemade hazelnut praline and honey mascarpone, baked until browned, and finished with powdered sugar. I could not get enough.

Serves 4 servings

1118

Hazelnut Focaccia Di Recco

Yields 1 large focaccia

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Ingredients

Foccacia
• 1 1/2 cups (190 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) room temperature water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil plus additional for drizzling
Hazelnut praline
• 2 cups (240 grams) hazelnuts, raw
• 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
Remaining ingredients
• 1/2 cup (225 grams) mascarpone
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp melted butter
• 1 tbsp coarse sugar
• powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions

1. Make the focaccia dough. Combine the flour, water, salt, and 1 tbsp olive oil in the bowl of a stand mixer and knead until the dough comes into a ball, about 5-6 minutes. Add additional water if needed, adding 1 tbsp water at a time. The dough should be soft and elastic but not sticky. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let rest for 2 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Make the hazelnut praline. Toast the hazelnuts until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and rub the hazelnuts with a clean towel to remove the outer skins. Spread the nuts on parchment paper and set aside.
4. Place the sugar in a heavy bottomed pot and heat over medium heat. Gently melt the sugar until it starts to brown. Lower the heat to low and continue to cook until the sugar is browned and caramelized, about 4-5 minutes. Gently stir the sugar with a rubber spatula throughout the cooking process to ensure even browning. Immediately pour the caramel onto the hazelnuts and let cool completely. Break the caramelized hazelnuts into small pieces and place them in a food processor. Puree the nuts until smooth, about 7-8 minutes.
5. Whisk together the mascarpone with 1 tbsp honey until smooth. Set aside.
6. Increase the oven temperature to 500 degrees F.
7. Lightly dust a clean work counter with flour. Divide the dough in half. Working with one portion at a time, roll out the dough. Continue to stretch pull the dough until it's paper-thin, about 14 inches in diameter. You should be able to see your fingers through the dough when it's ready. Repeat with the other half.
8. Brush a large baking sheet with 2 tbsp olive oil. Place one of the dough pieces on top. Place about 6-7 dollops of the mascarpone cheese on the dough (for a total of 1/2 cup), spreading the dollops evenly. Spread the mascarpone just a bit to create a small well in the center of each dollop. Place about 1 1/2 tbsp of the hazelnut praline in each of the mascarpone wells.
9. Top the focaccia with the remaining dough, pressing the edges together to seal. Trim the excess dough and discard. Gently tear small holes on top of where the filling is. Brush the top with melted butter and sprinkle the coarse sugar. Bake the focaccia for 11-13 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
10. Remove the focaccia from the oven and dust with powdered sugar. Cut into smaller pieces and serve immediately.

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**Helpful tips and common mistakes

Most people think of the thick bread with dimples when they think of focaccia. However, there are actually many different variations. This focaccia di recco is comprised of thin sheets of dough, normally filled with gooey cheese. Today, we’re making a dessert version with honey mascarpone and hazelnut praline. It’s damn good.

To start, make the dough. The dough is made from just four ingredients, flour, water, salt, and olive oil. Combine the ingredients and knead until the dough is soft and elastic. Cover and let it rest for at least two hours or overnight in the fridge. If you chill the dough overnight, make sure to let it sit at room temperature for one hour before rolling it out. It’s important to let the dough rest so that it can easily be stretched and pulled later on.

While the dough is resting, make the hazelnut praline. I got the idea for the hazelnut praline from Le Pain’s brunette spread. When I used to work there, I used to toast a slice of bread and slather on the brunette spread for breakfast. It was so addicting. If you’re unfamiliar with the spread, think of it as Nutella without the chocolate, just hazelnuts.

To make the hazelnut praline, first, toast the hazelnuts. Rub the nuts in a clean towel to remove the outer skins. Don’t worry if you can’t get them all off. Then, melt the sugar to make a caramel. You may have noticed that we’re not adding water to the sugar to make the caramel. This is because this is the dry method. You can also use the wet method and add a bit of water if you prefer.

If the outer edges of the sugar turn brown first, gently stir the mixture with a rubber spatula. Immediately pour the caramel on top of the hazelnuts and let it cool. Break up the pieces and puree in a food processor until smooth. It’s essentially the same as making nut butter just with the addition of the caramel. Luckily, this recipe makes a large batch so you’ll have plenty of leftovers. You can also make the hazelnut praline several days in advance.

Now let’s back to the focaccia. Lightly dust a work counter with flour and roll out each of the dough halves until it’s about 14 inches in diameter. You may need to stretch and pull the dough to get it to the right thickness. If you hold up the dough, you should be able to see right through it.

Place dollops of the honey mascarpone evenly on the dough. Spread the cheese and make a well in the center, helping prevent the hazelnut praline from spreading too much. Then, place the other dough on top and seal the edges.

Gently tear small holes where the filling is to help it ooze out while it’s baking. Brush the top with butter, sprinkle some coarse sugar, and bake the hazelnut focaccia di recco until browned, about 11-13 minutes. If you want more of a charred topping, turn on the broiler for the last minute.

Finish the focaccia with a dusting of powdered sugar and get ready to dive in.

This hazelnut focaccia di recco was even better than I had imagined. It’s not too sweet, making it easy to golf down several pieces. Now I’m even more intrigued to try the savory version!

Looking for someone to come to your house and prepare these dishes for you? It is possible! If you are in Los Angeles and looking for a private chef, please feel free to contact me. For more information, visit Private Kitchen Los Angeles.