Ok, we are halfway through our detox month, therefore, we can allow ourselves to cook something scrumptious and slightly higher in carbs than our previous recipes.
As we always do, Jennifer and I are turning traditional Italian dishes into even healthier foods! This month, we are dedicating or blog to vegan recipes, just in time for the Veganuary challenge.
Jennifer Cauli is a friend and a talented food & travel photographer who also comes from Italy. Together we joined forces to create a series of recipes (and pictures) that would use the typical Italian ingredients, but also have a contemporary and healthy twist.
Jennifer loves making sourdough bread and pizza, so she had the amazing idea to incorporate some health-promoting ingredients into and onto a sourdough base —and I gave her the green light as sourdough contains less gluten, it is lighter than regular bread and the fact that this one is made with wholemeal flour makes it higher in fibre.
The star of these focaccia (focacce), though, are the veggies — radicchio and onions. The purple-and-white type of leaf vegetable can be eaten raw, mixed in into salads and contorno, but it is AMAZING also when cooked. Radicchio, also known as Italian Chicory is packed with plant compounds —especially in its red part— which act as antioxidants on free-radicals and can improve circulation.
Our focaccia also have onions in the recipe, but instead of leaving onions only as topping, we put them into the dough to give the bread an incredible taste, like they do in Sardinia.
Onions have been seen in research to have anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties, to act as a prebiotic on our gut flora, and to be able to balance the immune system and improve heart health.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0924224407002282
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10408398.2011.646364
RECIPE
Prep Time: 45 minutes + Leavening time 14 hour 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 15 hours 45 minutes
INGREDIENTS
210g strong wholemeal flour
150ml water
10ml olive oil
5g salt
70g sourdough starter
360g white onions
170g radicchio
60ml olive oil
INSTRUCTIONS
First thing you will need to activate your sourdough starter by feeding it on the night before using it.
The second step is often called by the experts as “autolyse”.
In a small bowl, mix the water, wholemeal flour, and oil. Cover the bowl with a cloth and set aside for 1 hour. This is to allow the enzymes in the flour to activate.
Then add in the natural yeast and knead for 5 minutes to form a smooth dough. Now add in the salt and knead for another 2 minutes.
Let it rest for 8-12 hours or until it is doubled in size. This time can vary significantly depending on the temperature in your kitchen and of your ingredients, and how active is your starter.
A general tip is to check the consistency of the dough, it should be bouncy and light.
Slice your onions into thin rings. Then cook them in a pan with 30ml of olive oil for about 10 minutes or until translucent.
Stir constantly to avoid burning them.
Let the onions cool down. Keep some aside, you will need these to decorate your focaccine. Then gently incorporate the rest into your dough, folding the edges of the dough on top of it a couple of times.
Put the dough onto a floured surface and portion it into 8. Then shape each one into a small ball, tucking the sides in with your hands. Dust some flour all around and on the top of each ball rubbing it gently with your hands. Cover them with a cloth and let them raise again for about one and a half hours.
Preheat the oven to 220 ºC
Now place each ball into a greased baking tray and flatten each one using your finger tips. Pressing gently and avoiding knocking out all the air.
Cut the radicchio into small wedges to fit into your focaccine. Place some of the radicchio leaves on the top of each focaccina.
Bake for 10 minutes. Then drizzle the remaining olive oil on the top and cook for further 10 minutes or until is gold.
Cromo Nutrition 
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