The village of Recco is famous all over the world for its food speciality par excellence, cheese focaccia. It is obtained from dough consisting of flour, Italian extra virgin olive oil, water, salt and filled with fresh cheese and then baked in an oven.
The famous “Focaccia di Recco” is not only an attraction for the Genoese having a delicious break far from the city life, the tourists and second house owners (mainly coming from Piedmont and Lombardy), but also for local, national and international celebrities visiting Recco to taste its wonderful focaccia.
In order to protect this culinary jewel the “Focaccia di Recco col formaggio” consortium was created so as to promote the history and culinary value of their focaccia (it is the only Italian focaccia not to use yeast). Recco’s gastronomic pride can show off its European PGI award (Protected Geographical Indication) for the Recco, Avegno, Sori and Camogli municipalities. Cheese focaccia is produced in compliance with PGI by local bakers and restaurants. It can be served rolled in greaseproof paper or directly on a dish matched by a good glass of wine.
A variety of this dish is focaccette, which are fried and filled with cheese. They are not only typical of Recco, but of the Paradiso gulf. They are prepared in several parts of Liguria with differences – sometimes slight and sometimes deeper – in the ingredients and dough, according to the area of production.
Consigliamo di provare la vera focaccia col formaggio a Recco o nei paesi limitrofi di Camogli, Sori e Avegno in panifici, focaccerie e ristoranti. Una variante di questo piatto tipico sono le focaccette, fritte e ripiene di formaggio, tipiche non solo di Recco ma del golfo Paradiso e preparate in varie zone della Liguria con differenze negli ingredienti e nell’impasto, talvolta sottili talaltra sostanziali, a seconda del luogo di produzione. Esiste anche una versione della focaccia senza la sfoglia superiore, la si può trovare in molti panifici genovesi.
Recco’s cheese focaccia: recipe
- 0,55 lb flour
- 4,4 uk fl oz water
- 0,9 uk fl oz virgen extra oil
- 1,65 lb soft cheese (crescenza or stracchino)
- salt
Mix the flour with oil, water and salt, until you get a compact and elastic dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for at least half an hour.
Take a portion of the dough and roll it on a lightly floured pastry board. At this stage it is important to leave the dough that you are not using wrapped in film to prevent it from drying out and becoming little elastic.
Continue to roll out the dough manually with a rotary movement, placing your hands under the dough so as to widen it. The thickness must be less than a millimeter. Lay the dough in the pan previously greased with extra virgin olive oil, fill it with pieces of cheese as large as a walnut, evenly covering the entire surface.
Roll out the top of the dough using the same procedure as before: this layer will have to be even thinner than the previous one, almost transparent. Place it on the baking tray, crush the edges with a strong pressure to weld well the two layers of dough so that the cheese does not escape the cooking. Pinch the top layer of pasta to create small holes that will not make the focaccia swell, sprinkle the surface with extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt.
Bake in a hot oven at high temperature, (270/ 300 degrees or the maximum for home ovens, the bottom of the oven should be warmer than the top) until the surface is golden brown, with bubbles and brown spots typical of focaccia.
