Bravo-Inspired Focaccia

This rustic focaccia bread is so easy to make because it starts with thawed, frozen pizza dough. Topped with the most delicious, seasoned olive oil, it’s perfect with soup, salad, or pasta.

Jan 28, 2025

As a recipe developer, I’m always looking for inspiration for that next deliciously healthy recipe. Sometimes inspiration comes from a favorite cooking show, a newly released cookbook, or even a viral Instagram post. Other times it comes from a major life event.

Last month I got to experience one of those future events you think about when your child is born – college graduation day. For me, that moment arrived this past December. As I proudly watched my son walk across the stage and receive his “temporary” diploma, I couldn’t help but think about previous graduation days and wonder, where did the time go?

If you’re thinking, what does my son’s college graduation have to do with today’s recipe, stay with me. After the ceremony, we made our way to a celebratory dinner at Bravo Italian Kitchen. If you’re not familiar with this lovely eatery, it’s a restaurant chain that serves classic Italian fare; from pasta, to steaks, to brick-oven pizzas, they have something for everyone.

One of my favorite things at Bravo is the dipping oil that arrives at your table, along with a basket of warm bread. This herby, garlicky infused olive oil is irresistible and might I say, slightly addictive. As I was soaking up the delicious oil with the bread, the registered dietitian in me started adding up the calories I was taking in. Every tablespoon of olive oil I sopped up came with 120 calories and every ounce of the focaccia-style bread I ate was probably (best guess) around 100 calories. A very conservative estimate of my oil-soaked bread appetizer was in the neighborhood of 450 calories. Ouch!

This got me thinking about an alternative way to enjoy that dipping oil for a lot less calories. Maybe I could get that same flavor by drizzling a more modest amount of seasoned oil over some dough and baking it. This way that wonderful seasoning gets baked right into the bread, and the amount of calorie-rich oil used is significantly reduced. After a few tests, I came up with a recipe that I couldn’t be happier with. Let me take you through the steps on how to make my Bravo-inspired focaccia.

Start by making the dipping oil so the flavors have time to blend and intensify. After an internet search of copycat Bravo dipping oil recipes and a little experimenting, I came up with a version that I think is spot on. Just whisk together olive oil, tomato paste, minced garlic, dried basil, dried crushed rosemary, dried thyme, salt, and black pepper and set it aside until you’re ready to prepare the focaccia.

A nice shortcut when making focaccia bread is using frozen pizza dough. After the dough is completely thawed and warmed to room temperature, transfer it to a sheet pan that’s lined with parchment paper and coated with cornmeal. Work the dough into an 8-by-12-inch rectangle, loosely cover the dough with plastic wrap, and allow it to rest for an hour. After the resting time, remove the plastic wrap and gently reshape the dough into an 8-by-14-inch rectangle. Using your fingers, make indents (dimples) over the surface of the dough.

Brush the entire surface of the dimpled dough with the seasoned oil.

Place the prepared dough in a preheated, 425-degree F oven for 15 minutes or until it’s golden brown. Remove the baked focaccia from the oven and sprinkle the top with an 1/8 teaspoon of salt. Allow the bread to cool for 5 minutes and then slice it into 12 pieces. Garnish it with minced fresh parsley and serve. This focaccia bread is a delicious accompaniment to a warm bowl of soup, a crisp fresh salad, or your favorite pasta dish.

To your health,

Darlene

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BRAVO-INSPIRED FOCACCIA

Yield: 12 servings

Serving Size: 1 slice

Prep: 10 minutes

Ready: 1 hour 30 minutes (not including dough thawing time)

INGREDIENTS

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1 clove minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed rosemary
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
3/8 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 pound frozen pizza dough, completely thawed and warmed to room temperature
Parchment paper
2 tablespoons cornmeal
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley (optional garnish)

DIRECTIONS

In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together olive oil, tomato paste, garlic, basil, rosemary, thyme, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and black pepper. Set seasoned oil aside, allowing flavors to blend while dough thaws and softens.
Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper and sprinkle with cornmeal. Press dough into an 8-by-12-inch rectangle. Loosely cover dough with plastic wrap and allow it to rest for 1 hour.
Remove plastic wrap from dough and reshape into an 8-by-14-inch rectangle. Using your fingers, make indents (dimples) over surface of dough. Brush entire surface of dough with seasoned oil.
Place prepared dough in a preheated, 425-degree F oven and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven, sprinkle top of baked focaccia with remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt and let cool for 5 minutes. Slice focaccia into 12 pieces, garnish with minced fresh parsley (if desired) and serve.

Nutrition Information per Serving

124 Calories, 4 g Total fat, 0.5 g Saturated fat, 0 g Trans fat, 0 mg Cholesterol, 143 mg Sodium, 18 g Total carbohydrate, 1 g Dietary fiber, 1 g Total sugars, 0.5 g Added sugars, 3 g Protein, 1 mcg (6%) Vitamin D, 2 mg (0%) Calcium, 1 mg (6%) Iron, 7 mg (0%) Potassium