Local Treasures: Tossini Bakery’s Focaccia Col Formaggio di Recco
One last tidbit from the Italian Riviera. On the way up to France we stopped by the town of Recco, in the region of Liguria, where we tried a DOP consortium-protected specialty of the area. Focaccia col formaggio di Recco is a thin flatbread oozing with cheese that is only made in this Ligurian town. Jen Adams, Julie Szimon, Melissa Lee, and Caitlyn Dabbs got a sneak peak at how this unique bread is stretched, pulled, tossed like a silk scarf, stuffed with cheese, and served steaming hot at Tossini Bakery. All images by Jen Adams.
In the heart of Recco, surrounded by mountains and the bustle of town life, Tossini produces Focaccia Col Formaggio di Recco, a world-renowned heavenly goodness as featured in Vogue. For hundreds of years people have traveled near and far to devour and savor Tossini’s signature dish. This extraordinarily cheesy delight starts with the dough being passed through a sheeter machine and then hand-tossed to form the bottom layer of the focaccia. Dollops of crescenza cheese, a very fresh and mild creamy cow’s milk cheese, are placed every few inches along the surface of the dough. A final top layer of dough is stretched across the pan and then holes are randomly ripped in the top layer to expose the soft creamy cheese beneath. Once it’s placed in the oven, the holes cause the cheese to melt and bubble up forming a golden brown crust. Depending on what slice you are served, you will either have a crisp layer from the outside or a dough-like texture from the inside. Either way each bite, from the first to the very last, will be satisfying and mouth watering. The warm and melted crescenza cheese, baked to perfection, is the ideal pairing for the thin crisp layer of dough.
Stretching and tossing the dough:
Laying dallops of cheese on bottom layer of focaccia dough:
Covering up with the top layer of dough and poking holes for baking:
