Rosemary Ricotta & Goat Cheese Focaccia

Ingredients
  • pre-made pizza crust
  • garlic
  • black or mixed peppercorns
  • chicken or vegetable stock, or white wine
  • ricotta cheese
  • shredded & fresh mozzarella, sliced
  • herbed goat cheese
  • portobello mushrooms, chunked
  • sliced black & green olives
  • grape tomatoes, halved
  • flat-leaf parsley, chopped
  • fresh basil
  • parmesan cheese
  • fresh rosemary
Instructions
Getting a pre-made, no-pre-bake pizza crust saves you a lot of time and effort (but as someone on this site has pointed out, the absence of tomato sauce here, aka a "white pizza," thus makes this a focaccia).  I recommend using a stainless steel pan for your sauteing to get those nice brown bits on the bottom.
  1. Take a handful of peeled garlic cloves and a large spoonful of black (or mixed) peppercorns and puree into a paste; adjust amount to your taste.  You want just enough to give a thin coating across the pizza crust.  A food processor would do, but we prefer our trusty granite mortar and pestle.  :)
  2. Saute half or 3/4 of the garlic & pepper paste (I recommend olive oil) to take the edge off the garlic's bite, just until golden-brown and aromatic.  Scoop out and spread all over pizza crust.
  3. Add the remainder of the paste to the pan and saute briefly to start browning.  Throw in chopped mushrooms and allow some carmelization.  Deglaze with a few spoonfuls of chicken or vegetable stock, or white wine.  Cover and let soften.  When they're done, uncover and let most of the liquid evaporate and concentrate down--not only does it taste good, you don't want uber-wet mushrooms on a pizza!  Take them out and set them aside to cool while you start the cheese-building.
  4. Spread a generous layer of ricotta on the pizza crust, followed by slices of fresh mozzarella and crumbles of herbed goat cheese.
  5. Next pile on the mushrooms, olives, and grape tomatoes, including bits of cheese along with each layer to help cement things down.  Yes, this focaccia's pretty mountainous.
  6. Finish up with a couple handfuls of chopped parsley, some fresh basil leaves, a generous sprinkling of parmesan & shredded mozzarella cheese, and sprigs of rosemary leaves at the very top.  These will get nice and crispy.
  7. Bake (following pizza crust package instructions for temperature) until ooey-gooey and golden-brown delicious.
Yes, this focaccia is likely to start coming apart at the seams in your hands--but trust me, finishing it with a fork is totally worth it.  It also tastes great cold out of the fridge.