Flourless Potato & Onion Focaccia
Here’s an interesting twist on focaccia.
There’s no flour in this potato & onion focaccia from the southwestern region of Puglia, focaccia di patate e cipolle in Italian.
The “dough” is fashioned from riced potatoes with grated parmigiano and white wine.
The potato dough holds a sweet filling of long-cooked onions with capers and black olives.
The focaccia is topped with bread crumbs and baked in the oven until golden brown.
The creamy potato crust top and bottom has a nutty crunch as you bite into the perky sweet onion filling with the capers and olives.
Serve the focaccia as a side for meat or fish or incorporate it into your next antipasti platter.
Buon appetito!
Flourless Potato & Onion Focaccia
Recipe Type: Focaccia
Cuisine: Italian
Author:
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6-8
No flour in this focaccia. Riced potatoes with parmigiano and white wine form the focaccia “dough” filled with sweet long-cooked onions flavored with a bay leaf, capers and black olives topped with bread crumbs and baked until golden brown.
Ingredients
- Onion Filling
- 2 pounds onions, roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 cups water
- 4 pitted Gaeta or your favorite black olive, chopped
- 1 teaspoon drained capers
- Dough
- 2 large baking potatoes boiled then peeled and riced or mashed, about 1 1/4 pounds
- 2 tablespoons grated parmigiano or pecorino cheese
- 1 teaspoon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 3-4 tablespoons dry white wine
- 1/4 cup breadcrumbs and extra virgin olive oil for the top and bottom crusts
Instructions
- Onion Filling
- Pour the olive oil into a large enameled pot or heavy bottomed sauce pan
- Add the onions, bay leaf, wine, salt, pepper to taste and the water to the pot.
- Cook over medium heat stirring occasionally until the water is evaporated. Be sure the mixture is very dry so the interior of the focaccia is not gummy.
- Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the capers and olives.
- Dough
- Boil the potatoes with the peel on until they are knife tender.
- Peel the potatoes and rice or mash them.
- Put the potatoes in a bowl, add the grated cheese, sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste and mix well.
- Add enough of the wine to make a consistent dough.
- To Assemble
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Brush the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate with olive oil and thinly coat the bottom with bread crumbs.
- Spread about half of the potato mixture in an even 3/4 inch layer in the pie plate.
- Next evenly spread the onion filling.
- Top the onion filling with the remaining potatoes,
- Brush the potatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with breadcrumbs to completely cover the the top.
- Bake until the top is golden brown, about 45 minutes.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
Is 3 cups of water necessary? The onions took a very long time to dry out.
Yes, you can reduce the amount of water. You just want enough liquid to ensure that the onions well cooked and softened to bring out their sweetness.