I love the way I can just forget about the whatever I am making in the slow cooker and get on with other things while it proves and then bakes. Perfect for a day at home with an active nearly three-year-old! Read on for the recipe for slow cooker spinach and feta focaccia.
Since I have had success with making bread in my slow cooker before (pesto twist loaf, rosemary and olive bread, apricot and sultana loaf, chocolate chip brioche), it was a no-brainer for me to turn to the slow cooker again to make focaccia with toppings for work lunches.
How to Make a Focaccia with Toppings in the Slow Cooker
The base of an oval slow cooker is just the right size to bake a focaccia loaf. You can either use a bread recipe from scratch as I’ve done here or even a packet focaccia mix if you want to save a little time (no need to weigh out the ingredients).
Make your dough, knead until elastic and then leave to prove in a bowl for an hour. Once risen, you can get going with the slow cooker part.
Knock the dough back so it deflates and shape to an oval the size of your slow cooker. Place on baking paper and put it in the slow cooker pot.
After an hour on low for the second prove, the dough will rise again.
Now drizzle the dough with olive oil, and make some holes with the end of your finger to push in the halved tomatoes and crumbled feta.
Scatter chopped spinach and rosemary leaves on top. Drizzle over a little more olive oil, and some sea salt, and it is ready to switch onto high to bake. It almost looks good enough to eat already!
Bake for approx. 1.5 to 2 hours on high, checking regularly. Put a tea towel under the lid to catch drips and stop the focaccia getting wet.
You’ll find the focaccia bakes well with browning around the sides.
To brown off the top a little more, place it in a hot oven or under the grill/broiler for five minutes.
This was absolutely delicious for work lunches, and was enough for two days eaten in its own. If served with a side salad it could even make four servings.
At approx 300 calories per quarter focaccia, this can be included in a healthy eating plan.
More Focaccia Recipes to Try
For more focaccia recipes, why not check these out:
- my blackcurrant focaccia
- tomato, red onion and blue cheese focaccia from the Crafty Larder
- focaccia from The Great British Bake-Off from Kerry Cooks
- wholemeal herb and onion focaccia from Utterly Scrummy Food For Families
- cherry tomato and rosemary focaccia from Little Sunny Kitchen
- olive focaccia from Family-Friends-Food
Pin this slow cooker spinach and feta focaccia for later:
Slow Cooker Spinach and Feta Focaccia
Ingredients
- 250 g strong white bread flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp fast bake yeast
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 200 ml cold water
Topping:
- 50 g spinach chopped
- 40 g feta cheese crumbled
- cherry tomatoes handful, halved
- 2-3 sprigs of fresh rosemary leaves stripped
- Coarse sea salt
- Olive oil to drizzle
Equipment
Instructions
- Place the flour, salt, yeast, olive oil and three quarters of the water in a large bowl and use a spoon to mix it together into a sticky dough.
- Knead it in the bowl for five minutes and add the remaining water slowly.
- Stretch the dough out in the bowl and then fold in into the centre, keep turning the bowl little by little and continue stretching and folding for five minutes. It will gradually become less sticky and more elastic.
- Turn the dough out onto an oiled surface and knead it for another five minutes.
- Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover it with clingfilm, and allow it to double in size. This rise took about an hour for me.
- Line the bowl of a large slow cooker (I used one which is 5.7 litre) with a double layer of baking paper.
- Place the dough in the pot on the baking paper and stretch it out to roughly the size of the base of the pot.
- Place the lid back on the slow cooker, turn it onto low and allow the dough to prove for an hour.
- After an hour on low, the dough will rise well again.
- Drizzle the dough with olive oil, and make some holes with the end of your finger to push in the halved tomatoes and crumbled feta. Scatter the chopped spinach and rosemary leaves on top. Drizzle over a little more olive oil, and some sea salt, and it is ready to switch onto high to bake.
- Bake for approx. 1-2 hours on high.
- After 1.5 hrs on high with a tea towel under the lid, the focaccia baked well!
- To brown off the top a little more, place it in a hot oven for five minutes.
Notes
Foodie Quine (@foodiequine) says
This is fantastic! I would never have even considered bread making in the slow cooker.
bakingqueen74 says
Thank you! It has great results with bread I find, I make this once every couple of weeks now for work lunches
lucyparissi says
This looks incredibly tasty! Never would have believed you can make it in a slow cooker but YUM. I miss bread : ( #CookBlogShare
bakingqueen74 says
Have some go on!
HonestMum (@HonestMummy) says
Wow that looks awesome, I need me a slow cooker! Thanks for linking up to #tastytuesdays
bakingqueen74 says
Thanks Vicky
EMZ says
This looks amazing! I don’t have a slow cooker though .. sad face .. !
bakingqueen74 says
You could of course bake it in an oven too 🙂
Truly Madly Kids (@TrulyMadly7) says
Fabulous! We’ve just gone meat free during the week so great to get recipes like this #tastytuesdays
bakingqueen74 says
Thanks, it was great for work lunches and I will be making it again very soon!
Kirsty Hijacked By Twins says
Oh wow!!! I never thought of using my slow cooker for bread/focaccia! My oven has broken and I am cookerless until Saturday but this looks perfect, I am so tempted to get baking 🙂 x #tastytuesdays
bakingqueen74 says
ooh it could be perfect, hope the oven is back now though x
Sarah @tamingtwins says
Oh Lucy you inspire me so much to use my slow cooker! Really must try this – it looks fab. Thanks 🙂
Janice (@FarmersgirlCook) says
Looks fabulous, Lucy.
bakingqueen74 says
Thanks Janice!
Sarah Trivuncic, Maison Cupcake says
That looks perfect! I had no idea you could make focaccia in a slow cooker.
bakingqueen74 says
Thanks Sarah, so glad it worked