Sweet potato, feta and olive focaccia

There hasn't been a lot of bread baking recently.  This sweet potato, feta and olive focaccia, is as close as it gets.  It was was intended to be an overnight bread that was baked in the morning.  It ended up being a bit more complex but part of the reason for this was that it was so cold that the dough needed extra time to rise.  As you will see in the photo, the extra rising made the focaccia a lovely holey light texture.

 

This combination on top of the focaccia was dreamed up to make sweet potato palatable to Sylvia.  We were talking about whether she would eat sweet potato.  She usually does not like it.  One reason is that she finds it too sweet.  So it seemed a good idea to pair it with salty olives and feta.

I left the dough to rise enough in the bowl until around lunchtime.  The dough didn't look as risen as I would have hoped but it seemed enough.  It is unnecessary to give it a second rise once it is patted into focaccia shape on the tray but it seemed wise given how slowly it was rising.  (I was feeling lazy and put my enamel casserole dish lids on the dough but they did not quite fit as you will see by the marks on the dough in the above photo.  I can't remember if I dimpled the dough with my fingers but I think I should have.)  

I went on a long bike ride.  It was longer than I had planned.  By the time I returned it took a while to get the oven preheated, the sweet potato cooked in the microwave, and the  toppings arranged.  It was not a fast process but the end result looked lovely.

Above is the dough with the toppings before going into the oven.  It seemed a lot of feta at the time but once baked (below), it seemed a lot less feta.  

As an aside, I recently read an article 'I just discovered there's a difference between feta and fetta' on taste.com.au.  It had never occurred to me either that there were reasons for the different ways of spelling feta or fetta.  According to this article, Greece has 'feta' protected to designate only feta made in Greece.  So any spelling of 'fetta' designates it was made outside Green.  Since I learned this, Sylvia and I have been checking out the spelling in shops and restaurants and discussing issues such as if restaurants are policed on these rules and if it matters for vegan feta/fetta which is never traditional anyway!  The same protection applies to Kalamata Olives.  Life sometimes seems very complex.

When the focaccia came out of the oven  the toppings were shrunken, as should be expected and the feta not as prominent.  Thanks to the trick of some grated cheese under the toppings, it mostly held on.  That's important.  No one wants your bits of feta and sweet potato rolling under the table.

The focaccia came out of the oven on in the evening, by which time we were ready for dinner.  I ate mine with some borscht soup and it was amazing.  It was still amazing the next day.  Great for meals, snacking and very portable when we were going out.  This is a recipe to remember for picnics and potlucks, for work lunches and entertaining.  I hope next time the weather will be warmer so the focaccia will not take quite as long but I should remember just how good delayed gratification can be.

More baking recipes with sweet potato on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
Earl Grey cupcakes and chocolate cashew ganache
Fast track pizza with sweet potato sauce
Sweet potato, feta and sauerkraut muffins (v) 
Sweet potato soda bread
Sweet potato, cheese and herb scones

Sweet potato, feta and olive focaccia
Adapted from Green Gourmet Giraffe 
Makes 2 medium focaccia

Foccacia:
300g ripe sourdough starter
450g warm water
40g (about 3 tbsp) olive oil
12g (generous 1/2 tbsp) salt
750g bread flour (I used 2/3 white, 1/3 wholemeal)
extra olive oil, for shaping

Topping:
1 medium sweet potato
1 handful of grated mozzarella or cheddar cheese
200g feta
1/2 cup of sliced kalamata olives
olive oil, for drizzling

Mix all focaccia ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. If you have time give it a 15 second knead in the bowl after 30 minutes but this is optional.  Cover well (I used a cover with elasticised edges or you can use clingwrap) and leave overnight or 8-12 hours.

In the morning scrape bread out of bowl onto an oiled surface.  Cut in half.  Spread it out a little too much and then fold in three to give a bit more height.  Shape into a flat rectangle on a baking tray lined with a generous amount of baking paper.  Lightly oil hands if it is a little sticky.  Repeat with second half of dough.  (My baking trays are about 29 x 22cm.)  At this point you can bake but I left mine to rise for 2-3 hours which seemed to help.

When you are ready to top the focaccia, preheat oven to 220 C.

Steam diced sweet potato until  it is just cooked but keeps its shape.  Scatter the grated cheese over the dough.  Arrange the sweet potato, crumbled feta, and olive slices over the cheese  Drizzle with olive and season.

Bake for 20-35 minutes until edges are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped.  (I baked for 35 minutes in my slow oven and it was quite crisp on edges.)  Cool on a wire rack and eat warm or room temperature.  It keeps well overnight but is best on the day of baking.

On the Stereo:
Fetch the Bolt Cutters: Fiona Apple