If the tortilla and the quesadilla have become the new sandwich, then the focaccia pizzas made in the new Roscoff Cafe, on Belfast's Fountain Street, are truly the new pizzas. Simple, delicious and ingenious, the recipes devised by Gillian Hayes and Paul Rankin have taken the smart idea of using widely available focaccia bread, sliced in half and coated with a tomato sauce, to take the place of the conventional pizza base. This means that assembling and cooking the pizzas is the work of mere minutes.
But if the idea of using focaccia as a base is novel, the parentage of the pizzas is orthodox and absolutely purist. "The inspiration was Bernadette O'Shea's pizzas," explains Gillian. "At the time when Paul and I were working on the food ideas, he was just so enthused by her work. He said they were the greatest pizzas he had ever eaten, and so we borrowed ideas from that. But then, we wanted to put our own twist on them, by using focaccia bread, for a start, and we did this also by using local foods, by getting our butcher to make the black pudding for us, for the leek and black pudding pizza - just details that would give us a little twist."
Besides making them at home, you can of course also enjoy the focaccia pizzas in the Roscoff Cafe itself. "Our intention and ambition is to keep the whole feeling of the cafe very continental," says Gillian. "It's the sort of place where you can come in at lunchtime and have a cup of coffee and read the paper if you want, and you can also come in early morning or late afternoon and have something more substantial to eat. We think the idea of a formal lunchtime style of eating is fading."
Over the last decade, the Roscoff organisation has shown that it understands exactly what is the food of the moment, the food people want to eat right now. These focaccia pizzas show Roscoff is as hip as ever. "Using these basic recipes is only a starting point," says Gillian. "I hope they will inspire you to use your favourite ingredients to create your own unique focaccia."
Recipes for the following focaccia make four large main-course or 20 snack-size slices.
Tomato sauce
2 medium onions (finely diced)
80ml olive oil 4 cloves garlic (minced)
2x454g tinned plum tomatoes bouquet garni
Sweat the onions in olive oil in a non-stick pan over a medium heat until translucent. Add the garlic and continue to cook for one to two minutes. Now add to the pan the tomatoes, bouquet garni, salt and black pepper to taste, bring to the boil and then reduce the heat until the sauce simmers very gently, stirring all the while. Cook for about 20-25 minutes, until the tomato juices evaporate. Remove from the heat; set aside. Don't forget to fish out the bouquet garni before using your sauce!
Chorizo, red and yellow pepper focaccia
2 red peppers 2 yellow peppers 4 small chorizo sausages 2 10-inch focaccia (split lengthwise)
12 tbsp tomato sauce (see above)
600g grated mozzarella freshly chopped parsley extra virgin olive oil
Heat your oven as high as it will go. Smear the peppers in a little olive or vegetable oil, place in a roasting tin and cook in the very hot oven for 10 minutes, until the skins are blistered and the peppers are soft to the touch - mind your fingers. While they're still hot, place the peppers in a plastic bag, tie the neck and set aside until they are cool enough to handle comfortably. Now the skins should slide easily from the flesh. Remove and discard the stalk and seeds and chop into long strips. Set aside. In a pan, cover the sausages in cold water, bring to the boil, remove from the heat and allow to cool in the cooking water. When they're cool enough to handle, chop the sausages into one-centimetre pieces.
To assemble the focaccia
Take your split focaccia bases and lightly toast them. Cut surface up under the grill. This will form a kind of seal between the bread and the sauce. Now, spread three tablespoons of tomato sauce over the base, making sure to go right to the edge. Evenly divide the peppers and chorizo over the four bases, again right to the edge so you get something of everything in every bite. Finally, top with mozzarella and cook in the oven for eight to ten minutes. Check after five minutes and move around if necessary to get evenly cooked. Finish under a hot grill for a bubbly, golden brown top. Sprinkle with some freshly chopped parsley and a liberal drizzle of really good extra virgin olive oil.
Chicken and rosemary potato focaccia
4 large baking potatoes 2 large sprigs rosemary 4 cloves garlic 2 large chicken breasts (skinned & boned)
3 tbsp olive oil 2 10-inch focaccia (split lengthwise)
12 tbsp tomato sauce (see above)
600g grated mozzarella rosemary-infused olive oil (or extra virgin olive oil)
Peel potatoes and cut into one-centimetre dice. Place in a pan with just enough boiling water to cover them together with a rosemary sprig, the garlic cloves (no need to peel) and a good pinch of salt. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for two minutes. Drain and refresh with cold water. Spread the potatoes out on some kitchen paper to absorb any excess moisture. Meanwhile, heat three tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan. When the oil is hot, add the potatoes and saute until evenly browned. Drain again. Chop the other rosemary sprig finely and then toss with the hot potatoes and season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Set aside. Season chicken breasts and chargrill, if possible, or panfry for five to seven minutes on each side. Leave to cool and chop into bite-size chunks.
To assemble the focaccia
Follow the method and cooking instructions as before. Finish this focaccia with a good drizzle of rosemary oil or the best extra virgin olive oil.