There’s no debating that a pizza oven makes fantastic pizza, but did you know you can use it for so much more than that too? We used a Fontana Forni Wood Pizza Oven to caramelize onions for a delicious caramelized onion focaccia and to roast butternut squash, which we then used to create a flavorful roasted butternut squash hummus.
This is a great recipe to make the most of your pizza oven while being full of delicious fall flavours for the season.
If you want to make this Focaccia for yourself, you’ll need:
2 Sweet Onions, thinly sliced
- 4 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 2 tsp Kosher Salt
- 2 tsp (8g packet) Instant Yeast
- 2 cups Luke Warm Water, mix 1 cup hot water with 1 cup cold water
- Oil
- Flaky Salt
- Oven Safe Frying Pan
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Silicone Spatula
- Rectangular Cake Pan
- Begin by heating your pizza oven to an ambient temperature of 400F. Preheat your oven-safe frying pan in the pizza oven for 5-10 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the pizza oven, drizzle some oil, and add the onions.
- Toss the onions to coat in oil and return to the oven
- Cook the onions for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and caramelized, tossing every 10 minutes.
- Add the flour, salt, and instant yeast in a large mixing bowl and mix using a silicone spatula. Add the water and gently mix until combined into a shaggy dough.
- Cover with a damp towel in a warm spot and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Remove the towel and grab the top edge of the dough and fold it over itself. Turn the bowl 90 degrees and repeat. Do this until all four sides of the dough have been folded in, then cover it with the towel and let rest for another 30 minutes.
- Again, remove the towel and repeat the same folding process. Cover and rest for another 30 minutes, then repeat.
- After the third time folding the dough over and resting, rub the rectangular cake pan with oil and place the dough into the pan stretching the dough into the corners.
- Cover the cake pan with a towel and let rest for 1 hour.
- After the dough has rested, uncover it and use your fingertips to poke the dough down. Top with the caramelized onions and flaky salt.
- Bake in the pizza oven for 25-30 minutes or until the focaccia is golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and let the bread cool for 10-15 minutes before removing from the pan. Best served fresh!
This focaccia is delicious on its own, but we also made a roasted butternut squash hummus to serve with the bread. To make the hummus you’ll need:
- 1/2 Butternut Squash, peeled and sliced 1-inch thick
- 4 sprigs Rosemary
- 1 can Chickpeas, drained
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 1 Lemon, juiced
- Oil
- Salt
- Small Sheet Pan
- Food Processor
- Begin by drizzling a small sheet pan with oil, then lay the butternut squash slices down. Drizzle with more oil, sprinkle with salt and lay the rosemary over the butternut squash.
- Roast in the pizza oven for 20-25 minutes or until tender and browning.
- Remove from the pizza oven and allow to cool, dispose of the rosemary sprigs.
- In a food processor, add the cooled butternut squash, chickpeas and garlic and begin blending.
- While blending, slowly drizzle in oil until the hummus reaches the desired consistency, approximately 1/3 cup.
- Add lemon juice and salt to taste, and serve!
This recipe is a super simple take on hummus that adds so much flavour, fits fall perfectly and pairs well with the caramelized onion focaccia. You can also watch us make this whole recipe on our YouTube page!