Ingredient: lukewarm water, divided

CELEBRATING LABOR DAY!

Once again, the last long weekend of summer has arrived. Here in Canada, families with school age children, take it as the last chance to travel before the end of summer. Others enjoy the company of family and friends at barbecues, picnics, fairs, festivals and fireworks displays. Canadian football fans may spend a large portion of their weekend watching the Labor Day Classic matches live on television. Whatever your choice of relaxation is, you know good food will be a part of the holiday.

This stuffed focaccia came into my thoughts for a tasty choice. If you’re barbecuing, it can be wrapped in foil and heated on the grill. If a picnic is your preference, add a nice potato salad (or salad of choice) and of course, a beer. Perfect, easy and delicious!

I can’t quite remember when my love for ‘sandwiches’ began. I have memories of my brother and I having cold, leftover mashed potato sandwiches with my mother’s homemade bread after school. To me, anything is fair game for making a sandwich with.

The sweet potato focaccia I’m using in this recipe is adapted from the Focaccia Pugliese idea using the regional tradition of adding mashed potatoes to the yeasted dough for focaccia. The result is worth the extra effort — yeasty and spongy with a delicious tenderness and crusty edge.

Regional cuisine in Italy is a big deal. Focaccia recipes differ in many regions: Liguria, Puglia, Sicily, each region has its own version. Every tiny little village in Italy has its own recipes and everyone has their own ideas on how you should cook this or that.

Puglia’s cuisine is a mirror to its soul, simple yet flavorful, and deeply rooted in local produce. Its unique location ensures an abundance of seafood, and its fertile land blesses it with high-quality vegetables, grains, and olive oil.

The bread dough is not difficult to work with, it stretches easily to make focaccia pockets. This recipe is another idea that I developed into handheld stuffed focaccia pockets for picnics or lunch on the go. It consists of sweet potato focaccia filled with pork, apple & apricot filling. What’s not to love!

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Focaccia w/ Pork, Apple & Apricot Filling

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Course

Lunch

Cuisine

American

Keyword

stuffed focaccia w/ pork & apples

Servings

POCKETS MetricUS Imperial

Ingredients

Filling

• 1 Tbsp butter,
• 1/2 medium onion, finely diced
• 1 large apple, peeled & cut into 1/4-inch cubes
• 1 stalk celery, finely diced
• 1 1/2 tsp dried rubbed sage
• 3/4 tsp dried thyme
• 1 1/8 tsp dried summer savory
• 1 tsp veg salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 250 gm ground pork
• 60 gm (about 6-8) dried apricots, roughly chopped
• 100 gm smoked cheddar or cheese of choice

Sweet Potato Focaccia

• 320 gm (about 1 1/3 cups) orange sweet potato, cooked & mashed
• 1 Tbsp active dry yeast
• 4 1/2 cups flour, divided
• 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water, divided
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp salt

Topping

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• dried rosemary for sprinkling
• coarse sea salt for sprinkling if desired

Course Lunch Cuisine American Keyword stuffed focaccia w/ pork & apples Servings POCKETS MetricUS Imperial Ingredients Filling 1 Tbsp butter, 1/2 medium onion, finely diced 1 large apple, peeled & cut into 1/4-inch cubes 1 stalk celery, finely diced 1 1/2 tsp dried rubbed sage 3/4 tsp dried thyme 1 1/8 tsp dried summer savory 1 tsp veg salt 1/2 tsp pepper 2 cloves garlic, minced 250 gm ground pork 60 gm (about 6-8) dried apricots, roughly chopped 100 gm smoked cheddar or cheese of choice Sweet Potato Focaccia 320 gm (about 1 1/3 cups) orange sweet potato, cooked & mashed 1 Tbsp active dry yeast 4 1/2 cups flour, divided 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water, divided 3 Tbsp olive oil 1 1/2 tsp salt Topping 2 Tbsp olive oil dried rosemary for sprinkling coarse sea salt for sprinkling if desired

Votes: 1 Rating: 5 You: Rate this recipe!

Instructions

Filling

1. To a skillet add butter & melt. Add onion, apples, celery & spices as well as salt & pepper. Sauté until vegetables are tender. Add garlic & cook until fragrant, 30-60 seconds. Remove from pan.
2. Place ground pork in skillet & cook, breaking it up into small pieces, until no longer pink. Drain on paper towel. Return to skillet & add veg combo along with apricots & grated cheese. Set aside until ready to use.

Focaccia

1. In a large bowl, combine yeast, 1/2 cup flour & 1/2 cup lukewarm water. Allow to sit for about 20 minutes until frothy.
2. Cook & mash sweet potato; add it along with the remaining 3/4 cup lukewarm water, 3 Tbsp olive oil, 1 1/2 tsp salt & 4 cups flour. When dough forms, knead for about 7-8 minutes until the dough is soft & satiny. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap & allow to rise in a draft fee place until doubled in size, about an hour.
3. Preheat oven to 375 F.
4. Spread work surface with olive oil. Place risen dough on it & roll out to about 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into 12 pieces. Form each piece into a ball. Roll each ball into a 6-inch circle. Divide filling between 6 of the circles leaving a border on each one. Top each one with remaining circles of dough. Pinch edges to seal in filling.
5. On 2 parchment lined baking sheets, place filled focaccia. Sprinkle with dried rosemary & coarse sea salt if using.
6. Bake for about 20 minutes or until slightly browned. Remove from oven & cool on wire racks.