#CrazyIngredientChallenge ~ Apple Focaccia with Gruyère and Rosemary

Welcome to the October 2017 Crazy Ingredient Challenge - this month it was rosemary and apples! I was so excited to see what everyone came up with this month. I did a quick search on these ingredients and this bread immediately jumped out at me.

We're all still pretty congested over here, so I only got to half enjoy this gorgeous bread but it is absolutely beautiful and really simple - just your typical slow process with a yeasted bread with 2 rises / resting times. It was about a half day experiment. And well worth the wait. The combination of sweet red apple with the rich gruyere cheese and a base of crisped chewy focaccia just can't be beat. There's nothing I would change about this one. It was wonderful!

Apple Focaccia with Gruyère and Rosemary adapted from Williams Sonoma 

Ingredients
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup warm water
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 TBS extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for the bowl
1/2 TBS dried rosemary
1 apple, such as Fuji or Honeycrisp, cored and cut into thin rounds
1/2 cup (2 oz.) grated Gruyère cheese
Flaky sea salt for garnish (optional)

Directions

1. Combine yeast, sugar, salt, and warm water in a bowl. Stir to combine and then allow to sit about 5 minutes until yeast is activated and mixture is frothy.
2. Using the flat paddle in your mixer, add in the 3 cups of flour until the mixture begins to form. Switch to the dough hook and allow to mix about 5 minutes on low speed until a ball forms.
3. Move to an oiled bowl, cover and let rise about 90 minutes.
4. Line a baking tray with parchment paper or silpat, and spread with about 1/2 TBS oil. Spread dough with fingers over the full tray.
5. Dimple the bread using your finger or the handle of a wooden spoon. Use a pastry brush to dab about 1/2 TBS of oil over bread. Spread most of the rosemary over bread, then lay apple slices over. Sprinkle with remaining rosemary. Drizzle remaining 1/2 TBS olive oil over the top.
6. Bake in preheated oven about 25 minutes. Remove, spread shredded cheese over the top, return to oven for 2 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before slicing and serving. 
7. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt, lightly, if desired.

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