Vegan Italian Garlic Focaccia Bread

Tonight we're having a simple dinner of lasagna and a vegetable.  I made the lasagna a couple of months ago when I was stocking the freezer, and now it's time to eat it (once again with trying to use up the food we have before we move, so we don't have to attempt to move food!).  I always like to serve a nice home made bread with such a simple dinner, because it really dresses things up a bit and makes dinner a tad more interesting.

This is a pretty easy recipe, as far as bread recipes go.  It takes a bit of time, but most of that time is spent doing other stuff (packing, anyone?) while the bread rises.  This isn't quite as easy as the Super Fast Dinner Roll recipe, but it's pretty darned close.

Italian Garlic Focaccia

Ingredients:

For the bread:

• 1 1/4 cups warm water
• 1 TBSP raw cane sugar
• 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 3 TBSP vital wheat gluten
• 1 TBSP olive oil

For the top:

• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 2 TBSP vegan Parmesan
• 2 large cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed
• 2 tsp dried Italian seasoning

Directions:

1.  Combine yeast, warm water, and sugar in a large bowl.  Cover with clean dish towel and let sit for ten minutes.

2.  Add salt, flour, vital wheat gluten, and olive oil (1 TBSP).  Mix until everything is well incorporated.  Dough will be sticky.

3.  Turn out onto well floured surface and knead until smooth and shiny, about five minutes.

4.  Shape dough into ball and place into a lightly oiled bowl.  Cover and let rise until double in size, about one hour.

5.  Punch down dough and divide in half.  Form each half into a ball, and place on a baking sheet that has been sprayed and lightly dusted with cornmeal.

6.  Roll each ball into an eight inch circle.

7.  Press fingertips into the dough to make indentions.

8.  Cover dough and let rise until double in size, about 20 minutes.

9.  Drizzle each loaf with 1 TBSP olive oil (I used my handy Misto oil sprayer; it makes things so much easier!).  Sprinkle 1 TBSP vegan Parmesan, 1 TBSP minced garlic, and 1 tsp Italian seasoning on top of each loaf.

10.  Bake at 375° for 20 minutes, until puffed and golden brown.

Enjoy!