Focaccia is mainly known as a savoury delicatesse, but wait till you try this sweet focaccia baked in your pizza oven... :
Work the dough ingredients as for the pizza. Arrange the grapes in a shallow roasting pan. Place the pan in the oven and roast, rotating once, until the grapes begin to hiss and wrinkle. Remove the pan from the oven. Hand stretch the dough ball to a size of about 20 X 35 cm. Dimple the freshly stretched dough deeply using your fingertips. Drizzle the olive oil in center of the stretched dough, and use your hand to spread the oil evenly. Combine the cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle half of the mixture evenly over the dough. Spread the ricotta over the dough, followed by the braised grapes, remaining cinnamon sugar, and crumbled blue cheese. Place the focaccia in a tray, place in the preheated Piccolo and until golden brown. Remove the focaccia when the top and bottom are both evenly browned. Let it cool down until luke warm before cutting it. This Tuscan sweet focaccia unites braised grapes and blue cheese, a marriage of sweet tang and a savory creaminess. Yummy with a cheese platter! 
Ciabatta bread with olives, freshly baked in your wood oven, and a glass of nice red wine: the best lunch of all!
Work the dough ingredients as for the pizza. Then spread the dough and pour the well drained olives over the dough. Mix well so the olives are spread through the dough evenly. Form small round or oval shapes with wet hands (wet your hands as soon as the dough starts to stick to your hands), turn them through some flour, and leave them to rise on a flour dusted surface for 2-4 hours depending on the temperature of the surrounding air. Once the dough balls have doubled in volume, place them in the oven with the pizza peel, 5 to 6 at the time, until the oven floor is filled. Make sure you leave some distance between the dough to avoid them sticking together as they will continue to rise a once in the hot oven. Baking time is around 20 to 30 minutes (watch the color). After 10 to 15 minutes, when the crust turns golden brown on the one side, then turn them around 180 degrees to the other side (towards the heat). This is not needed if you have the Piccolo pizza oven. You can also freeze a part of the olive breads, just let them cool down before placing them in the freezer in freezer bags. That way you always have something for the unexpected hungry guest... Tip: Do not thaw them, but place frozen in a preheated small kitchen oven at 180 - 200°C until crispy on the outside. Tastes like fresh olive ciabattas! 
Fresh homemade bread with only genuine ingredients, baked in your pizza oven: you won't want any other bread once you have tasted it:
Work the dough ingredients as for the pizza. You can choose to use a different type of flour, such as spelt (white or wholegrain) and also mix with seeds or rye. Form round or oval shapes of the size you like, it's important that they are all of uniform size to allow for even baking. Leave the breads to rise on a flour dusted surface for 2-4 hours (depending on the temperature of the surrounding air) and cover them (for example with a folded table cloth or tea towel). Once the dough balls have doubled in volume, place them in the oven with the pizza peel, 1 at a time, until the oven floor is filled. Make sure you leave some distance between the breads to avoid that they stick together. Baking time for an average sized bread (300-400 gr) is 30 minutes. After 15 to 20 minutes, when the crust turns golden brown on one side, then turn them around 180 degrees to the other side (towards the heat). No need to turn if you have the Piccolo oven. If you have a freezer you can double or triple the quantities for the dough, and freeze the bread in freezer bags, once the bread has been baked and cooled down. To use the frozen bread: thaw for 1 hour, then heat in a preheated oven at 180C for 20 minutes. Your bread will be as good as just freshly baked in your wood fired oven. 
Clean the fish inside, leave the skin on.
Fill the belly with a few garlic pieces, parsley, some olives, lemon slices, some pepper and a sprinkle of olive oil. Press the belly well to close it. Put the rest of the parsley, garlic, olives, lemon and olive oil under and on top of the fish, and sprinkle with a little pepper and some olive oil. Cover the dish well with aluminium foil, and place in the oven. Depending on the size of the fish, after 15 - 20 minutes take the aluminium foil off. Let the fish get a nice golden colour and flip it (only if it is not stuck to the bottom of the dish). Serve by lifting up the now crispy skin and take the flesh out. Spoon some of the jus and some olives on each portion. Serve with with jasmine rice (with butter if you like) and a lettuce and tomato salad. Simple but delicious! And it doesn't affect the waistline. 
This pollo Genovese recipe is a complete meal, and so easy to cook in your wood fired oven! The whole family will enjoy this dish:
Prepare the chicken: Cut 1 onions in 4 quarters, and the other in slices. Cut the garlic in halves. Rub the chicken on the outside and inside with salt and pepper. Then fill the chicken with the onion quarters and the garlic and parsley. Place in a clay oven dish. Put the onion slices, sage and rosemary underneath the chicken, and on top of the chicken, the rest around the chicken. If you like you can add potatoes: peel the potatoes and cut in large cubes, add salt and a sprinkle of olive oil, and add green olives. Pour 1 glass of water in the dish, and place in the hot oven (around 220°C) After around 20 to 25 minutes, don't add any logs to the fire, but let the fire slowly cool down a little. Total cooking time for Piccolo and My-Fiamma is around 40 - 45 minutes, for our brick ovens it is 50 to 60 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken. Serve with a nice fresh salad. And if you do the chicken only, without the potatoes and olives, it is nice to serve with toasted ciabatta bread instead, to do the "scarpetta" ("clean" the dish with the ciabatta bread). 
For Italians the secret of a good pizza is in the crust, so you need a good dough to start with. Here is an easy one: Dissolve yeast in 30 ºC water, add oil. Add the salt and pinch of sugar to the flour and mix thoroughly. Add the water (with dissolved yeast) to the flour in small volumes at a time. Once all is amalgamated, work the dough with the palm of your hand for 7 to 10 minutes, pushing and rolling the dough at the same time. Once the dough is smooth and “elastic”, divide and shape the dough into 200-260g balls. Leave them to rise for 3-7 hours (depending on the temperature of the surrounding air). Once the dough balls have doubled in volume, pick them up with a dough scraper, pass through some flour, and spread/stretch them out with you hands on a flat surface lightly covered with flour. Finally, add toppings and bake. For pizza the oven should be around 300-360C: For our larger pizza ovens: once the oven floor has reached 330 - 350°C, move the fire to the side, clean away the ashes on the oven floor before putting in the pizzas by blowing through a long piece of water conduct pipe or similar. Keep the flames lively for baking pizzas. Then you place the pizzas on the oven floor with the pizza peel, far away from the fire. Do not move or turn the pizzas until the crust is turns golden brown on the fire side, then turn the cooked side away from the fire with the pizza peel For Piccolo: once the stone is about 330 - 350°C, put your pizza on the stone, close the door and watch it baking and turning, about 60 - 90 seconds later your pizza is ready. No need to turn the pizza as Piccolo turns your pizza for you! 
This is a really tasty version of the classic focaccia, it goes really well with any lunch instead of bread. Our favourite is with parma ham and parmesan cheese, just put it on the focaccia when it's still hot... Work the dough the same way as for pizza. Mix the olive oil with the garlic in a small kitchen processor, or blender. Once the dough balls have doubled in volume, pick them up with a dough scraper, pass through some flour, and spread/stretch them out with you hands on a flat surface lightly covered with flour to 1 cm thickness. Dimple the freshly stretched dough deeply using your fingertips. Put the garlic oil in the center of the stretched dough. Use your fingers or a cooking brush to spread it evenly across the dough, within 1 cm of the edge. Sprinkle some of the rosemary. Bake away from the flame until the side closest to the flame turns golden brown on the top and bottom. Rotate the focaccia to bake the other sides, and so forth till all sides are evenly golden brown . For the Piccolo pizza oven: put the focaccia directly on the stone and let it turn with closed door, till it is golden brown. No need to turn it yourself. As soon as you take it out of the oven, sprinkle the rest of the rosemary and some salt, cut and serve immediately. This classic Italian flatbread calls for simple flavors but potential variations are endless. Fresh out of the oven, it is an asset to every meal, or just a great appetizer by itself. |