Low Carb or not, this is fantastic “bread!”
Admittedly, bread-making has never been my passion for me. Throughout my years of cooking I have occasionally taken baking classes on how to make bread but never really got in to it. I do love focaccia and have made it several times. Currently, during this pandemic, apparently- like everyone else-thought that this might be a good time to make bread. I guess it’s a comfort thing. But, there is no flour or yeast to be found.
I did however happen to have almond flour for the occasional low carb chocolate chip muffins we like to make and I always seem to have shredded mozzarella cheese. I never can pass up a good low carb recipe and I found this recipe on Low Carb Maven’s website . Her website is filled with lots of good low carb recipes that I have found before as well as other sites touting low carb and keto. This particular recipe for focaccia was a nice surprise! It really is different from the other “fat head-style” recipes that I have found before and it was so easy to make and so delicious! The texture and flavors were just was I was looking for and we did not care that it wasn’t a traditional focaccia recipe. I like to make homemade meatballs and sauce and serve with a vegetable or bread and this recipe was just right!
Although the base recipe is the same, I scattered fresh rosemary from my garden and kalamata olives on top of the dough and modified the olive oil dipping sauce a bit. A splash of good quality balsamic vinegar added a bit of acidity to balance out the other ingredients in the dipping sauce. And, as I was making the dough, I added dried Italian herbs to it while it was processing to add a nice herbaceous touch. The meatballs were pork and beef and slow cooked in a sauce very similar to Marcella Hazan’s tomato sauce.
Even when this pandemic is over and done, I think I will be making this focaccia recipe. It will be a great accompaniment for soups, salads, tapas and any pretty much any meal you can think up!
Thank you, Low Carb Maven, for sharing your recipe.
Please enjoy the photos and get my modified recipe below.
- 2 cups finely shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 cups of finely ground almond flour
- 2 oz cream cheese
- 1 T baking powder
- dash of salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1- 1/2 t dry Italian seasoning blend
- 1 T fresh rosemary leaves
- 1/4 cup sliced and drained kalamata olives and/or sun-dried tomato slivers
- 1 T olive oil
- olive oil for brushing
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 T fresh rosemary, chopped fine
- 1 garlic clove, finely minced
- 1 t Calabrian chilies or red pepper flakes
- 1 T balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup shredded parmesan
- salt and pepper to taste
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Place first 7 ingredients in a food processor and blend well.
- Line sheet pan with parchment pan
- Brush parchment lightly with olive oil
- Scrape dough on top of oiled parchment paper
- Shape the dough into a rectangle by placing a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper (sprayed with cooking spray) over the top of the dough and gently shape into a rectangle, not too thin
- While the parchment paper is still over the dough, press indentations into the dough
- Gently peel the paper away
- Sprinkle rosemary, kosher salt, olives over top
- Bake about 15 to 20 min or until evenly browned on top
- While cooling, in a small bowl, mix together the next 7 ingredients
- Slice as pictured and serve with dipping sauce
- Goes great with meatballs and sauce!