Focaccina with Roasted Garlic, Scallions and Provolone
Mario Batali has shared this flavorful focaccine antipasto recipe with us from his book, Italian Grill! The bread is thick and puffs up on the grill, enabling you to also split the focaccine for sammies.
2-3 large heads garlic, to yield 1/2-2/3 cup roasted garlic paste (see instructions, below)
2 cups grated young or semi-soft provolone cheese
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
Serves 6 as an antipasto
Preparation
Pre-heat a gas grill or prepare a fire in a charcoal grill.
Divide the dough into two pieces. Using a floured rolling pin, roll each piece out to a rough rectangular shape about 12 inches long, 6-7 inches wide and 1/4-inch thick.
Carefully place one rectangle of dough on the hottest part of the grill and cook until the bottom is light golden brown and dry, about 2 minutes. Use tongs or a spatula to carefully flip the dough over and cook on the other side. Transfer to a cutting board and allow to stand for 2 minutes. Repeat with the second piece of dough.
Use a serrated knife to cut each focaccina horizontally in half: hold the top of the bread with your non-cutting hand, maintaining consistent pressure as you carefully cut it into two even halves. Smear the garlic paste evenly over the top halves of the bread and divide the provolone evenly between the bottom halves. Sprinkle the rosemary over the garlic halves and sprinkle the scallions over the cheese halves. Close the focaccine and wrap each one tightly in foil.
Place the sammies on the grill and heat, turning once, until they are hot and the cheese is melting, 5-6 minutes. Carefully unwrap the focaccine, cut into 1 1/2-inch-wide strips with the serrated knife and serve.
Pre-heat a gas grill or prepare a fire in a charcoal grill.
Divide the dough into two pieces. Using a floured rolling pin, roll each piece out to a rough rectangular shape about 12 inches long, 6-7 inches wide and 1/4-inch thick.
Carefully place one rectangle of dough on the hottest part of the grill and cook until the bottom is light golden brown and dry, about 2 minutes. Use tongs or a spatula to carefully flip the dough over and cook on the other side. Transfer to a cutting board and allow to stand for 2 minutes. Repeat with the second piece of dough.
Use a serrated knife to cut each focaccina horizontally in half: hold the top of the bread with your non-cutting hand, maintaining consistent pressure as you carefully cut it into two even halves. Smear the garlic paste evenly over the top halves of the bread and divide the provolone evenly between the bottom halves. Sprinkle the rosemary over the garlic halves and sprinkle the scallions over the cheese halves. Close the focaccine and wrap each one tightly in foil.
Place the sammies on the grill and heat, turning once, until they are hot and the cheese is melting, 5-6 minutes. Carefully unwrap the focaccine, cut into 1 1/2-inch-wide strips with the serrated knife and serve.
Roasted Garlic Paste: Roasted garlic is delicious, mild and almost sweet. Choose large heads of garlic with large, plump cloves; smaller heads with small cloves are more tedious to deal with. A very large head will yield 3-4 tablespoons of roasted garlic puree.
To roast garlic, pre-heat the oven to 350°F. Slice off the top one-third inch or so of each garlic head, exposing the cloves. Wrap the garlic heads individually in foil and roast for about 1 hour, until the cloves are very soft. Let cool, still wrapped in the foil, then remove from the foil and squeeze out the soft garlic from the skins and put it in a bowl. Using a fork, mash the garlic to a paste. (The garlic paste can be covered and refrigerated for up to 1 day; bring to room temperature before using.)
