shakshuka focaccia

the at-home comp to my favorite baked good from Librae Bakery in NYC

I often find that bakeries are either good at creative pastry, or great pastry, but rarely both. A bakery might have the insane flavor combinations, like yuzu passionfruit tarts, or croissants with more ingredients in them than the back of a Doritos bag, but oftentimes the flavors overpower the actual baked good. Similarly, a bakery might have just the classics, but extremely well executed, without all the frills of unique flavors. For me, one is not better than the other, it’s just what you’re in the mood for — a fun croissant, or a good croissant.

The exception to the rule is Librae Bakery in New York. Bahraini- and women-owned, the bakery combines Middle Eastern flavors with Danish pastry techniques to offer the most incredible baked goods. Their labneh morning bun is flaky on the outside, but almost custard-y on the inside, resembling a French canelé with the Earthy-twist of the za’atar spice. Their cardamom carrot scone somehow has the moisture of a carrot cake on the inside, but retains its crumbly, biscuit-like layers on the outside. Nothing I’ve tasted from Librae has disappointed me.

One day I stopped by Librae to pick up a few bites for a little road trip from New York to Boston for my grad school reunion. The trip was supposed to take 4 hours, but ended up taking 7:30 hours. Ravenous, and stuck in stand-still traffic on I-84, the shakshuka focaccia in the box of Librae goodies came to the rescue (at least for my hunger). It was yet another example of how Librae can execute on both creative baking and great baking — the focaccia itself had a fluffy interior and crunchy exterior, the tomato sauce was subtly sweet and spiced, and the egg was perfectly cooked (a difficult feat, knowing that eggs and bread bake at different lengths, so it must be perfectly timed!).

top: shakshuka focaccia from Librae Bakery; bottom: za'atar morning bun and cardamom-carrot scone from Librae Bakery

I knew I had to recreate it at home. After some R&D, I combined my favorite yeast-based focaccia recipe on the internet from Lacey Ostermann with a riff on my popular tomato jam recipe. The result is a fluffy, chewy dough with a spicy-sweet tomato sauce and a glorious jammy egg. It’s nearly perfect — I’m not Librae bakery, after all.

PSA: If you haven’t purchased Lacey’s cookbook, 3 Doughs 60 Recipes, you must! Every recipe is gold.

the recipe: shakshuka focaccia

prep time: 2-24 hours | cook time: 25 minutes | bake time: 25 minutes

serves: 6-12 people

ingredients

For the focaccia — recipe by Lacey Ostermann

• 1 tsp. dry active yeast

• 1 tsp. sugar

• 1 3/4 cups warm water

• 1/4 cup high-quality olive oil + about 3 tbsp. more, for drizzling

• 4 cups bread flour

• 1 1/2 tsp. salt

For the tomato sauce:

• 1 14-oz. can whole peeled tomatoes*

• 2 tbsp. olive oil

• 1 large shallot, sliced into thin rounds

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 2 tbsp. tomato paste

• 1 tbsp. sugar

• 1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

• 1 tsp. paprika

• 1/2 tsp. black pepper

• 1/2 tsp. cumin

• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp. chili powder (optional)

*You could swap for diced tomatoes, but I prefer the taste of whole peeled.

For the topping:

• 6 large eggs, room temperature

• fresh parsley, finely chopped

• flaky sea salt

directions:

1. Prepare your focaccia dough: In a large bowl, whisk together the yeast, sugar, and warm water, and let sit for 10 minutes for the yeast to bloom. Add the remaining dough ingredients, then stir together with a wooden spoon until no dry spots remain. Form dough into a rough ball shape, then cover with a tea towel and let rest for 15 minutes. As per Lacey’s tips, after 15 minutes, stretch and fold the dough: with wet hands, pull one side of the dough upwards, then fold it over like an envelope, repeating until you’ve completed all sides of the dough ball. Cover dough and let rest for another 15 minutes, then repeat the stretch-and-fold process once more; this is building the gluten-structure in the dough. Turn dough, seam-side down, into a ball shape, and drizzle the top with about 1 tbsp. of olive oil.

   1. If proofing overnight: Cover the bowl well with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight. The next day, take the bowl out of the fridge for 1 hour to come to room temperature.

   2. If proofing same day: Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a tea towel, and let proof in a warm spot for 1 1/2 hours, or until double in size (it may take shorter or longer depending on how warm your home is).

2. Prepare a large, high-sided sheet tray by rubbing a small amount of olive oil at the base, then lining with parchment paper. When the dough is ready, turn it out onto the prepared sheet tray with oiled hands. Fold the dough like a paper going into an envelope; stretch the bottom half, and fold it over, and then stretch the top half, and fold it over. Flip the dough so the folds are seam-side down, then cover the sheet tray to prevent it from drying out (my sheet tray comes with a lid, but you can also use an inverted sheet tray on top). Cover with a tea towel, and let proof for another 1 1/2 hours.

   1. Note: sometimes I find that my dough doesn’t reach all sides of the sheet tray, so halfway through the second proof, I grab the dough with oiled hands and stretch the dough, pulling from underneath.

3. Prepare the tomato sauce: while the dough is on its second proof, pour the can of whole peeled tomatoes in a medium-sized bowl, and, using your hands, gently crush the whole tomatoes into pieces — be careful, the juices squeeze out! Set bowl aside. If you’re using diced tomatoes, you can skip this step.

4. Preheat a medium-sized skillet over medium-heat. Add olive oil, thinly sliced shallots, minced garlic, and 1/2 tsp. salt, cooking until shallots are translucent and slightly jammy, about 3-4 minutes. Add tomato paste, cooking with the shallots until it turns dark red color, about 2 minutes. Add bowl of crushed tomatoes, sugar, 1 tsp. salt, and the remaining spices, stirring to combine. Reduce heat to low and cook tomato sauce until it thickens into a jam-like consistency, about 10-15 minutes. Once done, let sauce cool for at least 5 minutes.

5. Make the shakshuka focaccia: Once your dough is proofed and your sauce is ready, preheat oven to 430°F with a rack on the lowest tier. Drizzle about 2 tbsp. worth of olive oil on top of the dough, and with oiled fingers, dimple the dough throughout, pressing about 3/4th through. Spoon 6 evenly-spaced dollops of the tomato sauce on top of the dough, using the back of the spoon to spread and press the sauce into the dough, creating a small well for our eggs to sit in later. Top focaccia with flaky sea salt.

6. Par-bake the focaccia for 16-18 minutes, or until it’s starting to brown in spots. Remove focaccia from oven, then crack an egg in a ramekin or cup and carefully drop in one sauce well, repeating until all wells are filled. Place focaccia back in oven, baking for another 7-10 minutes, or until the whites are set but yolk is still wiggly (keep an eye on this!).

7. Remove focaccia from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Top with parsley and serve.

   

   

Enjoy!

xx Brittany

IG: @toastedtable

Tiktok: @toasted.table