Garlic Focaccia & Loaded BLT

I made this focaccia to have as garlic bread with some pasta last night.  Technically, I don’t think it’s really focaccia, but that is what it reminded me of, and I’m not very technical!  The recipe is adapted from this recipe at King Arthur Flour.  Super easy to make and delicious!

So good, Eli couldn’t wait to get a taste!

For last night’s dinner, I sliced some down the middle, and loaded it with garlic parmesan compound butter and mozzarella cheese!  Yum!  Today, I used the leftovers to make a loaded BLT!

For the BLT, you take a big hunk of bread, slice it down the middle, use the same compound butter that you glazed the top of the bread with, and slather it on both slices.  Stick the bread under the broiler until toasted and looks like this:

Next you layer on some baby spinach, avocado slices, tomato, bacon, and a fried egg.  I’m drooling thinking about it!!!

Then you cut it in half to see the pretty insides!

Then you take a big bite and savor the taste!

Here’s how you make the bread.

GARLIC FOCACCIA (adapted from King Arthur Flour)

1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
3 TBS olive oil (plus additional for drizzling into the pan)
1 3/4 tsp kosher salt, divided
3 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 TBS instant yeast
Italian Seasoning
4 TBS butter softened
2 cloves garlic minced
2 TBS grated parmesan cheese
Ground black pepper to taste

Lightly grease a 9″ x 13″ pan, and drizzle 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil in the bottom.

Combine water, olive oil, 1 1/4 tsp salt, flour, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Beat at high speed with an electric mixer for 60 seconds.

Scoop the sticky batter into the prepared pan, cover the pan, and let it rise at room temperature for 60 minutes, till it’s become puffy.

While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 375°F.

Sprinkle the dough with italian seasoning.

Bake the bread till it’s golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes.

Meanwhile make your compound butter by combining final four ingredients and the remaining 1/2 tsp of kosher salt. You won’t need all of this, but it will keep in the fridge for a week.

Remove it from the oven and immediately brush with some of your compound butter, wait 5 minutes, then turn it out of the pan onto a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.