Pomegranate Focaccia with Dipping Sauce
No, it’s not Thursday again already; it’s a special weekend edition of Spontaneous Tomato for the Virtual Vegan Potluck!
The potluck is a twice-yearly virtual event, with bloggers from all over the world sharing vegan recipes (there are 146 participants this time around!). The recipe posts are all linked up to each other in a circle, so you can click your way through the vegan appetizers, drinks, and bread recipes—including this one—and keep going through the salads, sides, soups, main dishes, and desserts.
(Scroll down for links to the recipes that precede and follow this one.)
Like every single bread recipe I’ve ever posted on this blog, this focaccia is not actually my creation, but my fiancée Paula’s. (Since I prefer cooking to baking… though I love being baked for…)
However! I feel qualified to write it up—rather than turning it over to Paula for a guest post, as I typically would—since I did contribute something: the pomegranate seeds!
I love pomegranate seeds, and cannot get enough of them sprinkled over salad greens. I enjoy crunching on the sweet, juicy jewels often enough that it’s more than worth it for me to buy pomegranates whole and then extract all of the seeds myself—none of those seeds that have been sitting in plastic packaging for who knows how long. That way I can store fresh pomegranate seeds in the fridge as they disappear quickly, whenever I spoon them onto salads (or eat them buy the spoonful…).
I look forward to pomegranate season so much that I impatiently buy even early-season, underripe pomegranates (like the one I’ve used here—you can see the seeds are still half white and not entirely ruby red). The flavor was still delectable, though: the seeds were both tart and sweet with a nutty crunch.
Paula’s made rosemary focaccia many times before, though we’ve never posted a recipe for it here. Simple to make, focaccia can still steal the show, especially if you generously drizzle it with good olive oil before baking. I think it’s one of the more perfect breads for snacking and dipping; I guess I could have just as easily signed up for the VVP appetizer category as bread category with this one.
A popular take on focaccia is to bake grapes into the top of it, and though we’ve never actually tried that, that was my inspiration for this recipe. That and the tempting pomegranate on my counter…
Not only was the result colorful and festive—I may be posting this in time for Thanksgiving, but it looks downright Christmas-y—it was also incredibly delicious. The pomegranate seeds lost just a little of their juiciness in the oven, but still maintained their distinctive flavor, giving the crispy bread little refreshingly tangy pockets of sweetness.
It came as a surprise to me how well fresh rosemary complemented the pomegranate, too. Originally, I thought we could forgo focaccia’s usual sidekick, rosemary, for the pomegranate, but on a whim I nibbled a few rosemary needles and popped some pomegranate seeds in my mouth, and the flavors seemed quite happy together.
Ever since Paula ditched her bread machine and fell in love with making bread from scratch, we’ve been lucky to have an abundance of bread to share with friends; Paula’s breads sometimes form the backbone of a dinner party menu—she’ll go all out and bake seven or eight baguettes, and I’ll come up with a way to feature them both as an appetizer and alongside our main dish(es).
The best way to celebrate a fresh-baked loaf of bread and turn it into an appetizer (without using a cheese plate) is to serve it with a dipping sauce. Fresh-baked bread is so heavenly on its own, that this doesn’t need to be complicated: the easiest thing to do is to set out an assortment of nice olive oils and vinegars in shallow dishes, perhaps with salt and pepper or diced fresh herbs sprinkled into them. (Or the rosemary-laden magic sauce, which I wrote about here, never disappoints either.)
Of course there’s no need to splurge on Tuscan herb-infused olive oil or artisan cinnamon fig balsamic vinegar when you can make your own fancy flavored dipping sauce! For this pomegranate focaccia, I wanted to make a dipping sauce based around pomegranate molasses (an ingredient commonly used in Middle Eastern cuisine). The super sweet reduced pomegranate juice is balanced out by olive oil, lemon juice, and vinegar, to make the perfect addictively tangy accompaniment to warm homemade bread.
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This is the fourth VVP and my third time participating. Last time around I actually won VVP favorite in the Bread category (thank you for voting for me!) for my recipe for Sourdough Epi Baguettes with Rhubarb Blood Orange Ginger Jam.
I’ve had so much fun in the past checking out everyone’s creations and expanding my understanding about what vegan food can be. If you’re new to VVP, I hope you’ll take the time to click through to all of the other potluck posts, too! Starting with the recipe that precedes mine on the blog Sift, Stir and Savour, and the recipe that follows mine on the blog The Vegan Kat. (Link buttons appear at the very bottom of this post, too.)
And if you’ve been scrolling through the VVP and you’re new to my blog, welcome! I’m a vegan-friendly blog; have a look around and check out the vegan recipes section of my recipe index. (And follow along on Pinterest or Facebook if you like what you see.)
Last but not least, thank you so much to all of the organizers of this VVP! Thanks to Annie of An Unrefined Vegan, Angela of Canned-Time, Somer of Vedged Out, and Jason of Jason and the Veganauts.
Print this recipe. (PDF)
RECIPE:
Pomegranate Focaccia with Dipping Sauce
(Serves 6-12)
Active time: 25 min.; Total time: 3½ hours
Focaccia Ingredients:
~ 1½ cups bread flour
~ 1½ cups all-purpose flour
~ 1 cup warm water
~ 1 tsp. yeast
~ ¼ cup olive oil
~ 1 tsp. salt
~ 2-3 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, diced, and divided
~ 4 Tbsp. fresh pomegranate seeds
~ extra olive oil for drizzling
Pomegranate Dipping Sauce Ingredients (Serves 2-4):
~ 1½ Tbsp. olive oil
~ 1½ Tbsp. pomegranate molasses
~ 1 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
~ squeeze of fresh lemon juice
~ salt and pepper, to taste
How to make it:
1. Add the yeast to the warm water and set it aside for five minutes until frothy. In a large bowl, combine the yeast/water mixture with the flours, olive oil, salt, and 1 tsp. of the diced rosemary. Turn out onto floured surface and knead for 10 minutes until the dough forms a nice, uniform ball with all the ingredients well incorporated.
2. Lightly spray a large bowl with olive oil cooking spray to keep the dough from sticking, then transfer the ball of dough to the bowl (give the dough itself another spray of olive oil), then cover with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise—preferably in a warmer part of your kitchen—for 2 hours.
3. On a parchment-lined baking sheet, turn out the risen dough and gently tug it out to a large, flat shape that’s almost as big as the baking sheet. Use your fingers to dimple the top of the dough, and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds, gently pushing them into the dough so they’ll stick better. Sprinkle with the remaining diced rosemary and drizzle generously with olive oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise for another 30 minutes. Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 500 degrees.
4. Once the oven is pre-heated to 500 and the bread has completed its second rise, lower the oven to 450 degrees, then remove the plastic wrap from the bread and bake for 20-25 minutes until the bread is lightly golden on top. Let cool at least 10 minutes before slicing.
5. Make the dipping sauce: Combine all dipping sauce ingredients in a small bowl and whisk well. Serve in a wide, shallow dish for optimal dipping.
Print this recipe! (PDF)
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Related recipe posts (all 4 are vegan):
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| Sourdough Epi Baguettes with Rhubarb Blood Orange Ginger Jam | Pear and Pomegranate Salad with Hazelnuts | Homemade Ciabatta | Muhammara and Roasted Red Pepper Hummus |
spontaneous tomato 
Very creative! Beautiful photo :)
Thank you! :)
This looks great! I wouldn’t have thought of putting pomegranate seeds on focaccia, but it looks really yummy!
Thanks! I wasn’t even trying to come up with a VVP recipe necessarily; I was really just trying to come up with a new way to use the pomegranate on my counter. :)
It’s a great idea and looks pretty too! If you haven’t tried it yet, Martha Stewart has a great trick for getting pomegranate seeds out quickly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_KKvqQ2QxU
Looks delicious :D
Thanks!
Oh wow. I love pomegranate, and pomegranate molasses. And your focaccia looks delicious and sophisticated, I am quite intrigued by the use of pomegranate combined with the more traditional focaccia topping: rosemary!
Thanks, Darya! I was intrigued by it, too, at first! Like I said in the post, my original thought was to make this bread with pomegranante *instead* of rosemary, but my fiancée/personal baker Paula assumed we would add rosemary, too. So then I had to taste-test them together first, just to make sure it wouldn’t be a disaster, but they passed the test with flying colors!
This is freakin’ gorgeous! It is so festive looking and would look beautiful at a holiday table. I have a fear of working with yeasty-dough when it doesn’t involve a bread machine. Do you take orders? :-)
Thank you! I agree; it turned out so perfect-for-the-holidays looking that I had to think twice about sharing it before Thanksgiving instead of closer to Christmas.
I admit it only with the greatest reluctance, but I share your fear of working with yeasty-dough; my fiancée Paula is the one who’s baked every single yeasted bread on my blog (and she’s written her own guest posts about most of them). I will say this, though: she only started baking without a bread machine since we met (maybe only two years ago), and she always has complete confidence that the bread will turn out fine, and she’s usually right! (…with a few whole-grain baking exceptions… we’re still working on perfecting those recipes.) She makes it look so easy, I believe I could actually take over and make perfect bread, too, if she were ever out of commission for baking.
Basically what I’m saying is, just try it and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the results! :)
(The only unfamiliar—i.e., yeasty—part involves combining yeast with warm water and setting that aside for 5 minutes until frothy. If it doesn’t froth, your water was too hot or too cold, so just dump it out and start again; if it froths, you’re good to go!)
This is inspiring to know. Thanks for the frothy tip. I will keep that in mind when I feel brave enough to venture into this territory. I still need to nail down a good bread machine recipe. Once I have that down solid, I will consider moving into bread-machineless bread :-)
AH, love those gorgeous jewels!
Thanks! I do, too! Whether they’re baked into the top of focaccia or not… :)
Hehe! ;)
I’m imagining the crunch of the pomegranate seeds biting into this bread would be so fantastic, and I’m totally tempted to make this with the last of the pomegranate that our houseguest from California brought us. It looks awesome!
Yes, you should totally do it!! And you might even still have pomegranate seeds left over for snacking and salads afterwards—this bread actually needs fewer seeds than you might think. I de-seeded an entire pomegranate thinking we’d use most of the seeds to cover a large focaccia, but then in the end we only needed 4 tablespoons! (You can see all of the extra seeds from the pomegranate in the bowl in some of the photos.)
Wow, absolutely delicious! I love focaccia and I love pomegranate :)
Thanks! I love them both, too; I’m very happy I found a way to combine them. :)
I love focaccia!! The pomegranate arils are beautiful!
Thanks! I hope you get to try making this. :)
This bread is just so pretty!! Beautiful photos, Allison! I really want to try making focaccia. You make it look so easy!
Thank you! It’s really Paula who makes it look so easy, since she’s the one who actually made the bread; I just suggested adding pomegranate and stood around taking photos. It is pretty easy to make though; you should try it! :)
Oh my goodness, this looks so good, i absolutely have to make this gluten free! gorgeous work xx
Thanks! Wow, I’d definitely be curious about how a good gluten-free focaccia recipe would work; please let me know if you end up making it! :)
I’m always wondering what to do with pomegranate seeds. Great idea. Also, I love the way you’ve cut up the foccacia; perfect for a dinner party!
Thanks, Valerie! I can’t disagree with you about this being a great idea, but this is by no means the only good way to use up pomegranate seeds; like I said in the post, they’re delicious on top of salads—either simple fruit salads (like this one with pears and hazelnuts) or on top of green salads, like over mixed baby greens with goat cheese and almonds. You can also just eat them by the spoonful!
I should have said, what “else” to do with pomegranate seeds besides salads, jams, and dessert garnishes. I love snacking on them, but I’ve been looking for other ways to use them. I think this one’s pretty original.
Oh whoops, sorry. :) Using them in jams is a great idea; I’ve never done that! And yes, I’ve never seen pomegranate seeds baked into bread before; only grapes.
Oh and when we just make traditional rosemary focaccia, we often just tear off chunks of it to nibble on, but the pomegranate seeds made it look more elegant somehow, and deserving of actually being sliced up nicely—you’re right that this would be perfect for a dinner party!
Beautiful creation! Beautiful photos! Happy VVP!
Thanks, Amy! Happy VVP to you, too!
How innovative! I can only imagine the wonderful tastes!
Thank you! Yes, I was inspired by many other people baking fruit into breads (specifically grapes into focaccia), although personally I am a much bigger fan of pomegranate seeds than of grapes. The results were really delicious. :)
I think that’s the prettiest focaccia I’ve ever seen!! Gotta take advantage of pomegranate season, for sure! Thank you so much for participating :-)!
Wow, thank you, Annie! Yes, and I actually made this + took these photos on the early side of pomegranate season, in (great) anticipation of this fall’s VVP! So I’ve been thoroughly taking advantage of pomegranate season ever since. :)
(And now that I’m in grad school in southern CA, I even live somewhere where pomegranates grow! Now I just need to meet someone who has a tree…)
I would never think to add pomegranate to a dish like this. Love it!
Thanks, Liz! Yeah, I kind of surprised myself by thinking of it, but then I immediately knew that it would probably taste delicious and I just HAD to try it!
This looks amazing. Beautiful photos
Thank you! It was a photogenic focaccia. :)
This is a “wow” recipe. Absolutely beautiful!
Thank you! That’s so kind of you to say. :)
What a beautiful bread! Absolutely brilliant idea putting pomegranate in there. :)
Thank you, Susmitha! :)
Genius! And beautiful, too.
Thanks, Bryanna! :)
Great post! Love your instructional pictures! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks! I don’t always include photos for every single step-by-step instruction—only when they’re photogenic really—but I guess this bread was just photogenic in every single step! :)
Sounds delicious! I have yet to try cooking with pomegranate. I tried to buy a couple at Costco today but surprise, surprise… you have to buy a whole box! lol
Whoa, a whole box of pomegranates at once?! I mean, I could definitely eat that many, but I might get exhausted just de-seeding them all! You’re probably better off just picking up one at another store, especially if you don’t have major plans to cook with them and most want to just snack on a handful or two of the seeds. :)
Good job to you and Paula! I love focaccia- topping it with rosemary is my fave but I’m definitely going to have to give this version a try :)
Thank you! I know we love plain old rosemary focaccia, too. I’m glad Paula still assumed we’d use rosemary for this one despite my also wanting to add pomegranate seeds. I hope you do get to try this; let me know how you like it! :)
Wonderful!
Wow wow… what great flavors together! I need some bread right now :)
Thanks, Kelli! Hope you get a chance to try making this. :)
I am such a hoe for bread…… I want this in my life…
Good thing you can have it in your life after not too much effort! :)
Simply beautiful! That is all!!!
Thanks, Somer! And thanks again for organizing the VVP!
You are too sweet, I actually wasn’t involved this round. Too much on my plate. I hope to be back on top of it next round.
What a fabulous festive dish!! With the red and green thing going on, this would be a great Christmas dish!! :)
Thanks, Celeste! That’s what I thought, too! :)
My goodness, this looks divine! Great idea with the pomegranate seeds!
Thanks, Keely!
Yumyumyumyumyumyumyumyumyumyum!!!
:)
What a lovely looking focaccia! I love the flavor combination, and the colors, too. So beautiful!
Thanks, Jodye! I love the color combination, too, and the pomegranate and rosemary flavors turned out to blend so well together!
Great idea using pomegranates. I’d imagine they’d melt nicely into the bread and make it jammy :)
Thanks, Brendon! They did melt nicely into the bread (and the seeds only dried out a little during baking—that was the one thing I was worried about before baking it); you can even see they dyed the bread a little pink in spots!
WHOA! The pomegranate seeds REALLY make this dish POP!! It looks amazing and so decadent!! I can only imagine how well these flavors paired together!
Thanks! The rosemary and pomegranate do go together really well. They give the bread an herby and refreshing feel to it—it’s really not even that decadent. (Well depending on how much bread you eat in one sitting… :)
The pomegranate seeds give the bread such an amazing colour and vibrancy. It looks gorgeous!
Thank you! I thought so, too! I was really happy with the colors of the pomegranate and the rosemary together.
Wow! This is vegan? Absolutely amazing. I would love to try this. Thanks for the step by step with pictures. Sometimes I get confused and lost with baking so the guide definitely would help. I’m glad I found your blog through the virtual vegan potluck.
I’m glad to have (re-)discovered your blog, too! (I’m really pretty terrible at keeping up even with the blogs I’m following.) And yes, we have quite a few vegan bread recipes in my recipe index. (I say “we” because my fiancée Paula is the one who bakes all the bread!)
meravigliosa!!!! love it!
Grazie! :)
Yes yes yes! This has got to go in the bread-making rotation! Thanks so much for sharing.
Thanks for commenting! :) It will definitely be sticking around in our regular bread-making rotation, as long as pomegranates are in season (and we have a LOT of recipes in that rotation already…)
Alison that looks outrageously good! What inspired the pomegranate and does it turn sour? I love it, well done xx
Thanks, Deena! Paula and I each just started buying pomegranates as soon as they were in season, so then I actually had two of them sitting on my counter, and I was just kind of day-dreaming about what I could do with them (other than sprinkle over salads) to include them in a recipe. Then the thought occurred to me that people sometimes bake fresh grapes into focaccia, so I thought that could work with pomegranate seeds, too!
And no, the seeds don’t turn sour at all. I mean they start out with a nice balance of tart and sweet, and they pretty much have those same flavors after baking; it’s just that they get a little dried out and shrink a little in the oven, as you can see from the photos, so they’re a little less juicy.
Nice photos and idea! I’ve got one pomegranate to try this recipe :)
Thank you! Oo, lucky you—I hope you do get to try this recipe, and that you enjoy it! :)
Totally stunning, Allison! Well done, you and Paula.
I agree, the foccacia does look Christmas-y. It looks beautiful!
:)
Thanks, Ally! :) I know, super Christmas-y, right? Even though that was unintentional!
I have been meaning to make a Focaccia for ages. Your idea of using Pomegranate is awesome
Thank you! Focaccia is pretty awesome, whether it has pomegranate baked into it or not. I think it’s also one of the easier kinds of yeasted bread to make; you should give it a try! :)
I absolutely love this flavor combination- how creative! I’m totally inspired to make this for a holiday gathering! The red and green are just perfect :)
Thanks, Heather! Yay, I hope you do get to make this for a holiday gathering! Let me know how it’s received. :)
How unique and lovely for the holidays!
Thanks! It really is perfect for celebrating the holidays, even though it just came about from me wanting to use pomegranates in everything while they’re in season… :)
Loving the colours and flavour combos! Having a very Austin Powers moments of “Get in my belly!”
Thanks, Jessica! I guess you should make this so it can get in your belly! :)
Thank you so much for dropping by my blog yesterday, Allison, and of course, for being the first commenter. I really appreciate it. And firstly, welcome to Virtual Vegan Potluck! I’m a huge fan of focaccia – I usually get them at bakeries whilst traveling. I love the idea of adding these beautiful pomegranate jewels to Paula’s focaccia – sweet n’ tart, crunchy, and fabulous. That dipping sauce sounds amazing – pomegranate molasses? Mmmmm I want some for Thanksgiving! Miam miam for this one!
Thank you, Rika! What a lovely comment! Your blog is beautiful and inspiring. I remember it from the last Virtual Vegan Potluck! (I’m just bad at keeping up with all the amazing blogs that I wish I could follow, but anyway, yours is one of them… and I hope to follow it more closely in the future.)
Focaccia is delicious, and yes, thank you for mentioning the dipping sauce! I absolutely love dipping fresh-baked bread in good olive oils and good vinegars, and in this case I was happy to be able to use something pomegranate-related in both the bread and the dip!
This is so creative! I’ve never seen fruit put into focaccia but something tells me I’d like it. Next big cooking day I might give this a try!
Thanks, Veronica! I’d never tried baking fruit into focaccia before, but I’ve seen/heard about it being done with grapes. Now that I’ve realized how delicious it is with pomegranate seeds, maybe I should start exploring how it works with some other kinds of fruit, too… (I know Paula wouldn’t be into the grape idea, though—I mentioned it to her & she made a face!)
What a beautiful loaf of focaccia! I’m always intimidated by bread-making, but if I knew that loaf was waiting for me on the other side, I just might brave through it! :) Rosemary is always so terrific in focaccia, but I can imagine it pairing beautifully with tart pomegranate seeds. Plus, like you said, the color is so eye-catching, especially with the upcoming holidays.
Thank you! The rosemary does pair beautifully with pomegranate seeds; that was a lovely and unexpected surprise for me with this recipe. :)
Oh and I know exactly how you feel, because I am actually intimidated by bread-baking, too! It’s only since I met Paula (who’s gotten really into baking since we met) that I’ve gotten to eat tons of fresh-baked bread and post (Paula’s) bread recipes on my blog. But I’ve definitely learned some things from watching her and photographing/typing up recipes, and I’ve realized that baking yeasted breads is less crazy difficult than I thought it was.
As I said in response to another comment above (I’ll paste it again here): The only unfamiliar part involves combining yeast with warm water and setting that aside for 5 minutes until frothy. If it doesn’t froth, your water was too hot or too cold, so just dump it out and start again; if it froths, you’re good to go!
Allison, this foccacia looks absolutely stunning! And what a great way to use pomegranates. I love them too and always look forward to the season when I can pillage a local (abandoned) tree. I can’t wait to try this x
Thank you, Kirsty! I’m jealous that you have a local pomegranate tree to pillage! I’m sure there are pomegranates growing in and around Santa Barbara where I live, but I just haven’t found a pillage-able tree or a friend with a tree… YET!
This is beautiful. i love anything with POM and this sound like a recipe worth bookmarking:)
Thank you! I love anything involving pomegranates, too! Hope you bookmark AND try the recipe; and I hope you enjoy it! :)
i was wondering what the dipping sauce was going to be, and that sounds perfect! beautiful focaccia
Thanks, Mimi! Yes, I love dipping any kind of fresh-baked bread in good olive oils and good vinegars. We often splurge on gourmet flavored oils and vinegars, and use them as dips for breads or in salad dressings, but I know I could never list one of those as an ingredient for a recipe on my blog, since they are locally made (and expensive!) and not available in stores everywhere—so I thought why not make my own flavored vinaigrette dipping sauce using everyday(-ish) ingredients! :)
Great step by step photos! I swear, there aren’t many things better in life then freshly baked focaccia with some good quality oil and vinegar. So beautiful too.
Thank you! I agree with you completely—freshly baked bread and good olive oil and vinegar are basically all I ever hope for in an appetizer (and I could eat that for dinner, too!).
That is so beautiful and looks so tasty! This is my first time visiting your blog and I am glad that I did!
Thank you, Kerry! And welcome; I’m glad you stopped by! (I assume you found my blog through the Virtual Vegan Potluck?!)
Allison, yes, I did find your blog through virtual vegan potluck! I wish we could have participated but I just stumbled upon it yesterday, but I am having fun checking out everyone’s blogs.
Holy pomegranate! This looks amazing! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Thanks for stopping by and commenting! Side note: I would love it if “holy pomegranate” caught on… :)
Absolutely gorgeous Allison! I adore pomegranates and what a creative use for them! You are a genius. Amazing!
Thanks, Shira! I’m not surprised we share the same taste in pomegranates, since we share them for so many other good foods, too. Anyway, you are too kind. :)
Oh how gorgeous! Such a beautiful bread for the holidays!
Thank you! I know, and that was unintentional—I was really just trying to come up with something seasonally pomegranate-centered and vegan—but I’m glad it turned out so festive, with the holidays around the corner. :)
Beautiful bread! Perfect for the holidays.
Thanks, Trish! I agree; it was a nice surprise bonus that it turned out to look so Christmas-y!
What a beautiful idea ! Pomegranate season is almost over in Israel (where I live) but I’m still making use of the last fruits of the season because I love this fruit so much !
Thank you! I actually just stopped by your blog even before responding to this comment, and I’m so glad I did. I love your use of pomegranate seeds in tabbouleh! And I loved browsing through some of your other vegetarian takes on Israeli food… yum. I’m sure you’re doing a good job of enjoying pomegranate season to the fullest while it lasts! :)
Dear Allison, thank you ! I’ve just sent you a response to another one of your comments. I’m glad I found you ! Loved your blog (-:
You can stop by my FB page which I started over a year ago, as opposed to this blog which I only started last week in order to transfer my recipes from there to a more organized domain where people can search for my recipes.
BTW, my name is Michal )”ch” are pronounced from the throat (-: ).
Where are you from?
Stop by and say hi on FB as well:
https://www.facebook.com/FoodesignsFromTheLandOfMilkAndHoney
You just started your blog last week?! I didn’t realize that! I will definitely follow you on FB as well. :)
Oh, and I’m from Madison, Wisconsin originally, but living in California now.
Wow. That’s beautiful. What a great combination of fresh flavors. Focaccia is such a wonderful bread. This looks incredible and easy enough to try! I’d love a bite of this right now.
Thanks, Amanda! I love focaccia, too, and especially this version, because like you said, the pomegranate + rosemary make it taste so fresh and bright! (…considering it’s bread.) It is pretty easy to make, too—you should make yourself some!
This is such a fun version of focaccia. I am sure I could eat the whole loaf! I remember your bread from last year and this one is just as lovely. I have a friend who introduced me to pomegranate molasses and I love that you used it here.
Thank you! I’m impressed you remember my bread from the last potluck, too. :) Thanks for saying so! And yes, I only bought my first bottle of pomegranate molasses recently (to make muhammara), but now I love it so much, I’m using it whenever I can!
Allison, I’m in love with this. What an inventive and unique foccacia! I’ve never seen anything like it — so genius. Love the vibrant photos too. Thanks for posting this!
Thank you; and thanks for commenting! :)
This looks absolutely delicious, on my “to do” list :)
Yay, that’s what I like to hear. :) Hope you enjoy it!
Great post and recipe. I am going to try this. Curious how loyal you are to your method of deseeding a pomegranate? I swear by Jamie Oliver’s method: cut a pomegranate in half and then whack (the crap out of) each half over a bowl. In a couple minutes, all the seeds are out–no skin. Super easy!
Thank you; I hope you like it!
And yes, I’m glad someone is mentioning that in the comments for everyone’s future reference… Just since I’ve posted this recipe only a few days ago, I’ve noticed two or three videos around the internet for that whack-with-a-wooden-spoon pomegranate de-seeding method! I still think that the right way to cut a pomegranate in half is not to slice right through it, but to make one shallow cut around it, that’s only peel deep, and then pry it open from there. But the next time I gently break a pomegranate in half, I will definitely be trying the whack-it method after that! Thanks for pointing it out here. :)
Such a festive bread! Love this for the holidays!
Thank you! Yes, it was a nice surprise that it turned out to be so festive! (Especially since that wasn’t my intention at first, since I’d originally planned on only using pomegranate but not rosemary.)
Yet another beautiful bread for the VVP, absolutely gorgeous! I love everything about this bread. I never would have thought to put pomegranate in bread, but its awesome. Happy VVP!
Thank you so much! Happy VVP to you, too! :)
Love the addition of pomegranate! I’ve never had it in bread, and I’m sure it is amazing!
Thanks, Laura! It really was delicious in bread—I was worried the pomegranate seeds would completely dry out and shrivel, but they only did so a little bit, so they still gave the bread little pockets of bright, tangy, and refreshing pomegranate.
I already liked this recipe a while ago – and now I see your passion for pomegranates! looks soooo pretty! I love it! ;-) And such a great idea to add them to the foccacia ;-)
Thanks, Sylvia! And yes, I love love love pomegranate seeds. I can’t get enough of them. :)
I cannot believe how pretty this bread is! Stunning!
Thank you! I love how colorful it ended up once we decided to use both pomegranate and rosemary. :)
For an Italian wife is so strange to think about Focaccia with pomegranate !!!
Focaccia in Italy is with spontaneous tomato !!!
But I will try it
Haha, okay, I promise I will use a spontaneous tomato the next time we make focaccia! (Except since I’m planning it now, it won’t be so spontaneous…)
I know it’s strange and not authentic to use pomegranate seeds, but I couldn’t resist trying it, and I was very happy with how it turned out. Hope you enjoy it, too! :)