Focaccia di San Giuseppe

Stuffed with onions, anchovies and raisins, San Giuseppe focaccia is a typical recipe from Puglia that is very simple to prepare.

Let's discover a typical leavened product from Puglia, in particular from the town of Gravina : the focaccia di San Giuseppe, also known as u ruccl . As it is easy to imagine, the preparation is reserved for Father's Day which falls every year on March 19th and is a very strong reference to the ancient culinary tradition of the area.

The main ingredient of this rolled calzone-shaped focaccia is the wedding onion, a typical variety of the area. It has an elongated shape, similar to that of the spring onion, and a reddish colour, a bit like the Tropea onion. The raisins and salted anchovies further enhance the flavor.

How to prepare the San Giuseppe focaccia recipe

1. First we prepare the dough that will have to rise. Pour the water (lukewarm or room temperature) into a bowl and let the yeast dissolve. Then incorporate the flour together with 20 g of oil and a teaspoon of salt. Knead by hand until you obtain a smooth and homogeneous dough.
2. Leave it to rise in the oven with the light on, covering the bowl with cling film, for 2 hours.
3. In the meantime, focus on the onions . Clean them just as you usually do with spring onions or leeks, removing the final green part and slice them not too finely.
4. Pour the oil into a pan and stew the onions with a pinch of salt until they are very tender. It will take about 20 minutes. Add the raisins, mix and leave to cool completely.
5. Once the dough has risen well, roll it out with a rolling pin to form a rectangle half a centimeter thick.
6. Distribute the onions on the surface (leaving just 1 cm from the edges) and complete with the anchovies broken into pieces with your hands.
7. Roll around the long side then wrap it up to obtain a sort of snail . Place it in a 24cm diameter pan and leave to rise until doubled.
8. Cook the Apulian focaccia di San Giuseppe at 180°C for 45 minutes. Let it cool before serving.

If you don't find the wedding onions you can replace them with half leeks and half spring onions. It may not be the authentic recipe but it will still be excellent. To make this day special we also recommend preparing a dessert: how about St. Joseph's pancakes ?

storage

We recommend eating the focaccia during the day, alternatively you can keep it in the fridge for 1-2 days maximum. We do not recommend freezing in the freezer.

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Saint Joseph's bread in two versions