This one’s a keeper.  Even Aunt Edna said so and she knows her way around an appetizer.  Similar to a pizza dough, this bread is slightly puffier and sweeter.  The grill added just the right amount of smoke and ‘grilled’ flavour to the bread.  Simple toppings of grilled onions, feta cheese, oregano and olive oil highlight the puffy bread perfectly.  And, as a bonus, this recipe is easy to put together.  Having a bread machine to knead the dough sure makes things easier.  And a ceramic cooking stone is an absolute must (once you have one of these you’ll use it all the time so go get one already.)

Bread Ingredients:

• 3 1/3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 ¼ tsp yeast
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• 1 1/3 cups water
• 1 tsp sugar

Toppings:

• 1x large red onion grilled until sweet, smoky and charred.  You almost can’t burn these things so put them on the grill well in advance so they’re ready when you are.  We added a dash of balsamic vinegar for a bit more punch.
• Feta cheese – don’t pinch pennies here, cheap feta tastes like, well, cheap feta
• Olive oil
• Dried oregano or Italian herb seasoning

 
Assemble your dough ingredients.

 
Put your dough ingredients into your bread maker, set it on the mix setting and let er rip.  Remember, only use the “dough” setting – you’re not ready for a finished loaf.

 
After the dough is mixed, remove and place on a lightly floured baking sheet.  Careful – it’s sticky.

 
Form the dough into a ball and cover for fifteen minutes.

 
Divide the flour into two sections.

 
Dimple each dough section with your fingers.

 
Cover your dough with a blankie.  Let it rest for 30 minutes.  As it’s resting, the dough will rise and puff itself into something tasty.

 
Once again: dimple.

 
Get your toppings ready.

 
Brush with olive oil.  Olive oil tastes good – use lots.

 
Put some cornmeal under your dough so it will be easy to get off the baking sheet. Add your toppings.

Slide the dough off onto the ceramic baking stone. Remember, the stone needs to be warm already so have it warming – using indirect heat – about 10-15 minutes before you’re ready to start baking.

 
Let the bread bake for about 20 minutes.  Check the bottom of the bread occasionally to make sure it’s not charring too much. Cut it up – eat it.  Do it again tomorrow.