In Northern Italy, in Liguria, the Focaccia of the Perata ancestors wasn’t puffy, bready, panni Americano as is most commonly found in California now. The Perata family made a crusty focaccia that was mid-way between a thin pizza crust and a ciabbata roll. It was chewy and worked best for pushing the last of the pesto onto your fork, or sopping up the minestrone or bagna cauda. Bring it on a picnic with some salami and wine, find a view and all is good. When prepared with parmesan cheese and caramelized onions, we like it with Cabernet Sauvignon Riserva.

8 cups all-purpose flour
3 packages or (6 3/4 tsp) dry active yeast
about 1 cup lukewarm water
olive oil
1 tbsp chopped rosemary
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan
1 yellow onion (sliced)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift flour into a warmed bowl. Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water. Make a well in the middle of the flour, add the yeast and gently cover it with flour. Leave for 20 minutes in a warm place. Knead well; adding any extra lukewarm water to make a firm dough that comes away from the sides of the bowl. Cover and again leave in a warm place until the dough rises (about 1 to 2 hours) until dough is doubled in size. Knead dough again until smooth adding 1/2 cup olive oil and the rosemary.

Turn out dough on a floured surface and roll out until 1/4 inch thick. Grease the required number of baking sheets with oil and add the rolled out dough. Again, cover and let rise. Prick down surface with a fork or finger tips. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with parmesan and bake for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in fry pan and add onions when hot. Cook until caramelized. Allow to cool. Remove focaccia from oven after the 20 minutes and cover evenly with caramelized onions. Place focaccia back in oven additional 10 minutes. Serve hot or warm with a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon Riserva.