I like making bread, although I’m not fantastic at it. I tend to over-proof and under knead my dough, which makes for weird textures in the bread. But … with the stand mixer, I decided to give it another try.

I went with the recipe from Veganomicon, the great vegan cook book by Isa Chandra
Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. I love the baked goods in this book, and the basic Rosemary Focaccia is one of my favorites. But, because I can’t just follow a recipe, I decided to add in sun-dried tomatoes early in the mixing process. I thought about adding them at the end, but decided to go in early and let the flavor really permeate the dough.

*Recipe:

• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 1/4 cup warm water
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped rosemary
• 3 – 4 cups flour**
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, dry packed, chopped
• oil and finishing salt for baking

Mix the yeast and water together in a bowl and let sit for about 5 minutes to proof. Add 1/2 cup flour, olive oil and mix. Add 1/2 cup flour, rosemary and salt and mix again to form a soft dough. Add 2 more cups of flour and mix lightly. Add sun-dried tomatoes and the, using a stand mixer and dough hook, knead dough on medium speed for about 6 minutes. Check the texture of the dough and if it is too wet, add more flour, 1/3 cup at a time, to achieve a soft, yet not sticky dough. Remove dough from bowl, coat in oil, return to bowl and let rise about an hour (should double in size).

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Oil a pan (I used an 8 x 11 glass dish). Punch down dough and knead a few times. Stretch or roll dough to fit in pan and then sprinkle more oil on top, especially at the edges. Let rise a little as the oven heats up, then add course salt to the top and bake for 30-40 minutes.

This was one of my better breads and it went really well with cheese, oil and vinegar, and with pesto for a kind of flatbread. Mom thought the flavor was too strong, so she made croutons out of the piece I gave her, but both bob and I really loved this.

*Recipe adapted from Veganomicon

**Everyone says baking is exact, but I’ve found the amount of flour I need varies on other factors. Very dry days, I need less. Hot/humid and rainy days, I need a little more.