Garden Focaccia Recipe

By traciesparks

Frozen bread dough is the convenient base for this herb-flavored flat Italian bread. These savory slices are a super appetizer at a summer gathering. It's a fun and delicious way to use up abundant garden tomatoes and fresh zucchini.

This sounds good. Going to give it a try. I use zucchini in place of cucumbers in my salads since cukes don't agree with me. I slice thinner than what a would normally do cuke. Works great. Even used the zucchini in my "tomato cucumber" salad for a picnic the other day. No one said anything, not sure they even noticed it wasn't cukes. We make it every summer, you know just a simple layer of sliced garden tomatos, onion, cukes (or zucchini :) ), drizzled with a batch of Good Season Italian. Sometimes I add sliced or small banana peppers too.

Ingredients

• 1 loaf (1 pound) frozen bread dough, thawed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 package (8 ounces) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese (softened or cubed), softened
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 4 large fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 3 medium tomatoes, sliced
• 1 small zucchini, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation

Step 1

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 15-in. x 10-in. rectangle. Place in a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes.

Using your fingertips, press indentations in the dough. Brush with oil; sprinkle with rosemary and thyme. Bake at 400° for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly.

In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, onion and garlic. Spread over crust. Top with mushrooms, tomatoes and zucchini; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool for 5 minutes before cutting. Yield: 20 slices.




Nutritional Analysis: One slice (prepared with reduced-fat cream cheese) equals 109 calories, 4 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 7 mg cholesterol, 185 mg sodium, 14 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 5 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1 vegetable, 1 fat, 1/2 starch.

Garden Focaccia published in Taste of Home August/September 2001, p29