#FeaturedChefRecipe - Spiced Up Focaccia w/Roasted Peppers & Queso Fresco by Chef Luisa Rizzi
Playing w/Food - Featured Chef Recipes
At Playing w/Food we believe that the kitchen is a place of community and camaraderie and for that reason we started a Feature Contributor Recipe section on our site to put a spotlight on friends, supporters, and other talented chefs who play w/us and play w/our products and spices. Have you been Playing w/Food? Would you like to be featured? Let us know!!
The first recipe we are featuring comes from a dear friend of ours, Chef Luisa Rizzi. A talented Chef and Culinary Instructor who on a daily basis takes novice culinarians to the next level, opening their minds and helping students hone their skills as they become the next generation of talented chefs.
Spiced Up Focaccia w/Roasted Peppers & Queso Fresco w/Everything Mexican Bagel Spice & Tangy Three Chili Salt
By Chef Luisa Rizzi
Sponge:
5 ml instant dry yeast
125 ml warm water
5 ml sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
1. Dissolve yeast in warm water.
2. Add sugar and flour.
3. Knead until dough is smooth and elastic.
4. Cover and let rise in a warm place until it rises and falls.
Dough:
280 ml warm water
30 ml olive oil (2 Tbsp)
15 ml sugar (1 Tbsp)
5 ml Playing w/Food Tangy Three Chili Salt (1 tsp)
10 ml Playing w/Food Everything Mexican Bagel Spice - split in two (2 tsp)
1 cup semolina flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1. Add all dough ingredients to the sponge (just half of the Everything Mexican Bagel Spice).
2. Knead to a smooth dough (4 minutes on 1st speed and 4 minutes on 2nd speed).
3. Form the dough into a ball, cover, and rest 30 minutes.
4. Flatten in a 1/2 baking sheet (with boarders).
5. Top with olive oil, remaining Everything Mexican Bagel Spice, and coarse salt.
6. Proof in an oven at 185 F for 1 hour until it doubles.
7. Bake at 400 F for around 25-30 minutes, until golden and cooked through.
Toppings:
3 bell peppers, roasted, peeled and sliced into strips
1/2 cup queso fresco, crumbled
Cilantro leaves (optional)
When the Focaccia is ready, remove from the oven and while still hot, top with sliced roasted peppers & crumbled queso fresco.
Enjoy!!
About Chef Luisa Rizzi
Luisa is a friend and customer of Playing w/Food. Her and our very own Chef Abe met while in Culinary School years back.
Her love of cooking began at an early age. She is the daughter of a robust Italian family and her passion for cooking was influenced by her grandmother and mother’s traditional family recipes. For Luisa, the best part of the cooking experience concluded with the expression “Mangia, mangia” (”Eat, eat”) as the family gathered together to enjoy the pleasures of the table.
Fresh pasta, slow cooked sauces and delectable desserts were all part of the menu. The family recipes were so good that they were soon selling food at local farmers markets.
Driven first by her compassion for people led her to attain a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Alberta majoring in Sociology with an emphasis in Native studies. Working in child care and family support followed.
Her passion for cooking continued and parallel to this she worked in restaurants and her family business. She then pursued her culinary aspirations by completing, with honours, a Culinary Arts Diploma at NAIT.
In 2010 Luisa joined their Culinary Arts program as a full time instructor taking novice culinarians to the next level.
Her thoughts on success: “Sometimes you just have to put your head down, dig deep and work harder than ever thought possible”.