Mix and rest the dough
01Knead until smooth.
Combine flour, water, 30 g olive oil and 6 g salt. Knead 8–10 minutes until the dough is soft, smooth and elastic.
The dough should stretch without cracking at the edges.
About Focaccia di Recco
Focaccia di Recco col Formaggio PGI is a specific Ligurian product whose production area includes Recco, Sori, Camogli and Avegno. Its protected method uses an unleavened dough of strong soft-wheat flour, water, extra-virgin olive oil and salt around a fresh soft cow’s-milk cheese.
The dough is rested for at least 30 minutes, then stretched to less than 1 mm. This is the decisive technical difference from ordinary focaccia: there is no yeast, no thick crumb and no final proof. The structure is closer to two extremely thin elastic sheets enclosing pockets of melting cheese.
The PGI method bakes at roughly 270–320 °C for only 4–8 minutes. Most home ovens cannot reproduce that heat. This recipe therefore labels its bake as a domestic approximation: use the hottest setting, a fully preheated metal tray or steel and a slightly longer bake, while recognising that the result cannot be sold or represented as PGI Focaccia di Recco outside the protected system.
Cheese is distributed in small pieces rather than spread as a continuous paste. As the focaccia bakes, steam must escape, so the top sheet is pinched or torn in several places before it enters the oven.
The final focaccia should stay very low, blistered and golden, with a thin crisp upper sheet and soft melted cheese immediately underneath.
