Sage Focaccia

Bon Appetit Tastes of the World, p. 68 (Italy)

1 1-pound loaf frozen bread dough, thawed

6 tablespoons chopped fresh sage

3 tablespoons olive oil

Pepper

¾ cup coarsely grated Pecorino Romano cheese (about 2 ¼ ounces)

Fresh sage leaves

I liked working with fresh sage. It's fuzzy and soft and it smells nice.

Place dough in medium bowl. Add 3 tablespoons chopped fresh sage, 1 tablespoon olive oil and generous amount of ground pepper. Knead in bowl to incorporate. Let dough rest 10 minutes. Press out dough on generously floured surface to 12x9-inch oval. Transfer dough to ungreased baking sheet. Brush dough with 1 tablespoon olive oil. 

My dough wouldn't spread out nearly as big as the recipe said it should, and it also didn't rise much when I let it sit. Choose your frozen dough wisely, I suppose.

Let dough rise in warm draft-free area 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425F. Lightly dimple dough all over with fingertips. Brush with remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Bake 10 minutes. Sprinkle dough with remaining 3 tablespoons chopped fresh sage, then grated Romano cheese. Bake bread until edges are brown, about 7 minutes longer. Serve bread hot, warm or at room temperature; garnish with fresh sage leaves.

Served up with Matt's Anti-Recipe Sweet Potato and Butternut Squash Soup and an overpriced Spanish beer.

My Rating: 3/5 "This was the first Bon Appetit recipe I've made that didn't make me stand up and applaud. I guess they can't all be winners. This is a nice idea, but there is just sooooooooooo much sage in this - way too much in proportion to the amount of bread. It looks pretty, though, so maybe you could just make a loaf and leave it out when you're going to have guests pass by in the afternoon. 'Oh, that's just something I've whipped up for dinner,' you'll casually observe. And then you'll pick out all of the sage when you actually eat it."