Last updated on April 17th, 2024
They say you eat with your eyes first, right? Well with focaccia art you most certainly do! Focaccia art is a beautiful way to create a healthy snack and have fun in the kitchen whether you are cooking for an event or trying to get your kids more involved in the food prep.
Making focaccia art is easy, fun and impresses everyone! I guarantee you will have your kids eating this tasty focaccia art up if you get them involved in this creative cooking project.
In this article, I will take you through how best to make easy focaccia art with my family’s recipe for schiacciata (our version of focaccia in Tuscany) with step-by-step instructions, focaccia art ideas and inspiration.
And remember, focaccia art should be fun! If you can’t make your own dough, don’t sweat it. Just pick up some store bought pizza dough and you are well on your way to making an edible masterpiece!
Note: Although technically focaccia and schiacciata are different recipes, I will be using the words interchangeably in this article. Schiacciata and focaccia are both flatbreads and very similar. You could even use pinsa dough and ligurian focaccia dough for this recipe.
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What Is Focaccia Art?
Focaccia art is the concept of decorating focaccia flatbread, also called schiacciata in Italian, with various vegetables and herbs to create a beautiful, edible image before baking.
Good To Know: While focaccia art is a trendy way to make and enjoy focaccia in the US, it’s not so popular in Italy. Italians are traditionalists at heart and don’t stray far from authentic family recipes. And I can promise you the Ancient Romans were not decorating their focaccia with tomatoes and bell peppers!
Best Toppings For Focaccia Art
You can really use anything you want for focaccia art but these are the ingredients you will have the most success with. Consider grilling vegetables for a charred look and smokey flavor before adding to your focaccia art.
- Red onions
- Bell pepper, all colors
- Green Onions
- Parsley
- Basil
- Rosemary
- Thyme
- Chives
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Tomatoes
- Olives (green and black)
- Capers
- Summer squash
- Zucchini
- Asparagus
- Potatoes
- Eggplant
- Radishes
- Edible flowers
- Sun dried tomatoes (these can burn so just watch them in the oven)
- Nuts and seeds
Focaccia Art Ideas
You can really create any design you want with focaccia art. It can be more thought out and you can plan a whole garden, underwater ocean scene or even play with creating pictures of animals and people.
I tend to go with flowers, sometimes bouquets, sometimes pastures with wildflowers. I am not super artistic so my animal focaccia art hasn’t been very successful and it’s certainly not worth sharing with you!
Try mosaic patterns, suns, moons, even replicating cars, buildings and houses with your focaccia art.
Cutting Tip: Play with how you cut the vegetables to obtain different outcomes. An onion cut vertically is going to look very different from one cut horizontally (similar to a tulip vs various circle sizes).
Use this chart below to help you develop ideas and learn what vegetables are best for various objects and subjects in focaccia art.
| Vegetable | Best For/Cutting Techniques |
| tomatoes | flowers (petals and leaves), car wheels, heads, mosaic; cut crosswise or in rounds |
| zucchini | cut into sticks for walls and stems, cut into rounds for wheels, faces, moons, |
| bell peppers | cut into strips for flowers or rounds for irregular shapes of cars, bodies, animals |
| chives | stems, walls, limbs, grass |
| onions | petals and flowers; cut either crosswise or vertically. |
| capers | eyes, center of flowers, stones, mosaic, bugs |
| olives | rocks, mosaic, bugs; cut or leave whole |
| herbs (rosemary, basil, thyme, sage, parsley) | stems, grass, small plants, hair |
| green onions | flour stems, roofs, grass |
| potatoes | thinly sliced for heads or suns; cut them thinly into organic shapes to help make animals; or just forget the art and make a potato pizza |
| eggplant | thinly slices or sticks |
| nuts and seeds such as pumpkin, sunflower and poppy seeds | great for adding flavor as well as making seed pods, sand, hair |
| asparagus | grass, mosaic designs, buildings, people |
| mushrooms | shingles, rocks; cut in thin slices |
| radishes | flowers – cut thinly in small rounds |
Focaccia Art Ingredients
Note: Focaccia and schiacciata are very similar. In this recipe, we are actually using a traditional recipe for schiacciata because an authentic focaccia is characterized by a salt brine that is poured onto the top before baking. We do not want to do this here with the vegetables on top.
- 1 batch schiacciata dough
- cut up vegetables of your choice
- olive oil
- salt, preferably flaky finishing salt
Focaccia Art Step-By-Step Instructions
Plan Well: Be sure to time your focaccia art well. To make focaccia art, you will need a batch of schiacciata dough that has already been proofed (this can take anywhere from just three hours to overnight depending on what kind of rise you choose).
Be sure you have your schiacciata dough ready to use. I like to make it the night before and leave it in the refrigerator overnight. You can also skip this step and follow my instructions for same-day focaccia.
Line a baking sheet (minimum dimensions 17×11.5 inches) with parchment paper, drizzle with olive oil and spread it out evenly with your hands. Turn the schiacciata dough out onto the baking sheet. Using slightly wet or oiled hands, pull and stretch the dough out into an even square/rectangle (or whatever shape you can manage; it can be a little challenging to spread out), pulling from the underside of the dough outward. Dimple it with your fingers (keep your fingers moist to keep them from sticking).
Let rise for at least 1 hour while the oven is preheating to 475° F (245° C).
Prep all your vegetables by cutting and patting dry of any excess moisture.
Drizzle the focaccia with olive oil and salt well with a flaky salk like Maldon.
Now you can feel free to decorate! Try not to press the veggies down too much into the dough. Just gently place them onto the dough, being sure they are indeed sticking to the dough and not popping or curling up (can happen depending on how you cut the vegetables).
Bake for 13-17 minutes in the middle of the oven until golden brown and crunchy.
Let cool before cutting.
How To Make Focaccia Art Without An Overnight Proof
Prepare the schiacciata dough at least 3 hours prior to baking. Place it in a well-oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temperature for 3-7 hours or until doubled in volume, performing four folds every 30 minutes, four times.
Fold the dough upon itself by lifting up one corner of the dough with a slightly wet hand, pulling it up and bringing it back down on top of the dough on the opposite side. Turn the bowl a quarter of a turn and repeat 3 more times until all the dough has been folded upon itself.
Finish proofing at room temperature. Do not refrigerate for same-day focaccia art. When doubled in size, you can move onto the instructions for making focaccia art.
Good To Know: The time it takes for your dough to double in size will depend greatly on the weather, climate, time of year, humidity, water and type of flour. In the summer, your dough will double in size very quickly but in the winter, it can take upward of six hours!
Focaccia Art Substitutions
For focaccia art, you can use any type of flatbread recipe you like. You can even use store-bought pizza dough if that is best for you. Make whole wheat focaccia or gluten-free focaccia and decorate just as described above.
How To Serve Focaccia Art
It’s best to leave the focaccia art whole when serving and cut it up after everyone has enjoyed its beautiful presentation. If you are making focaccia art for an event, picnic or school function, for example, serve it whole, uncut on a large platter and bring a serrated knife to cut when the food is being served.
Cut focaccia into long, narrow strips, about 1 ½ inches wide and 4-6 inches long. This is how Italians eat their focaccia as a snack. You can also cut it into smaller squares and pile high on a platter for picnics, aperitifs and social events.
Focaccia Art Notes and Tips
- You can really use any baking sheet you like as long as it’s at least 17×11.5 inches, approximately. I like to use a larger one and stretch it out in a more organic shape than a perfect rectangle.
- Don’t rush a rise. Let your dough proof correctly, being sure it has doubled in size before moving forward with the focaccia art.
- Peel the vegetables for a different look (such as zucchini)
- Use an oven thermometer for an accurate oven temperature
- Try grilling vegetables such as zucchini, yellow squash, onion and peppers before adding for a smoky flavor.
- Don’t stop with vegetables! You can also decorate with meat such as sausage and pepperoni slices.
- Drain and pat dry vegetables thoroughly with paper towels before adding to your focaccia art.
- Pair vegetables well. Remember, you will be eating this so you want it to taste good also. Choose toppings that you like and that taste good together (personal preference) for your focaccia art
Focaccia Art
Equipment
- 1 baking pan
- 1 sheet of parchment paper
Ingredients
- 1 batch schiacciata dough
- cut up vegetables of your choice
- olive oil
- salt, preferably flaky finishing salt
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet (minimum dimensions 17×11.5 inches) with parchment paper, drizzle with olive oil and spread it out evenly with your hands. Turn the schiacciata dough out onto the baking sheet. Using slightly wet or oiled hands, pull and stretch the dough out into an even square/rectangle (or whatever shape you can manage; it can be a little challenging to spread out), pulling from the underside of the dough outward. Dimple it with your fingers (keep your fingers moist to keep them from sticking).
- Let rise for at least 1 hour while the oven is preheating to 475° F (245° C).
- Prep all your vegetables by cutting and patting dry of any excess moisture.
- Drizzle the focaccia with olive oil and salt well with a flaky salk like Maldon.
- Now you can feel free to decorate! Try not to press the veggies down too much into the dough. Just gently place them onto the dough, being sure they are indeed sticking to the dough and not popping or curling up (can happen depending on how you cut the vegetables).
- Bake for 13-17 minutes in the middle of the oven until golden brown and crunchy.
- Let cool before cutting.
Notes
- You can really use any baking sheet you like as long as it’s at least 17×11.5 inches, approximately. I like to use a larger one and stretch it out in a more organic shape than a perfect rectangle.
- Don’t rush a rise. Let your dough proof correctly, being sure it has doubled in size before moving forward with the focaccia art.
- Peel the vegetables for a different look(such as zucchini)
- Use an oven thermometer for an accurate oven temperature
- Try grilling vegetables such as zucchini, yellow squash, onion and peppers before adding for a smoky flavor.
- Don’t stop with vegetables! You can also decorate with meat such as sausage (insert link) and pepperoni slices.
- Drain and pat dry vegetables thoroughly with paper towels before adding to your focaccia art.
- Pair vegetables well. Remember, you will be eating this so you want it to taste good also. Choose toppings that you like and that taste good together (personal preference) for your focaccia art
Focaccia Art FAQ
They are both yeasted flatbreads but focaccia’s interior is usually a bit more soft and spongy while schiacciata tends to be a bit more chewy and crunchy on the outside. Focaccia is also defined by a salt brine that schiacciata is not made with. For focaccia art, do not add a salt brine!
Yes, you certainly can use store-bought pizza dough for focaccia art. It may be a little harder to stretch out and you may prefer to roll it out with flour on a wooden work surface before transferring it to a parchment lined baking sheet.
Focaccia is one of Italy’s favorite breads and street foods. Italians typically eat it as a snack or use it to make sandwiches.
Focaccia is an Italian bread.
In Genoa, focaccia is called fugàssa while in Tuscany it’s called schiacciata. In other parts of Italy it’s called focaccia, just like in the US.
Focaccias use more yeast than pizza dough does, giving it a lighter, more fluffy texture.
