Hawaiian Focaccia Pizza
I’m still on a lazy cooking mode (but to me, that’s better than not cooking), which explains this Hawaiian focaccia pizza as the third short-cut pizza recipe I made recently using takeaway focaccia bread as the pizza base. I wanted to make Hawaiian pizza as there were leftover pineapples which I want to put to good use.
More Pineapple Recipes:
More Short-cut Pizzas:
- Cheesy Mini Pizza
- Heirloom Tomato Focaccia Pizza
- Mushroom Margherita Mini Pizza
- Margherita Focaccia Pizza
- Pepperoni “Pizza” Omelette
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Here are the main ingredients for this simple short-cut Hawaiian pizza:
- Takeaway focaccia bread – I recently discovered that the focaccia bread from Saizeriya is an ideal shape and size for a personal pan pizza. Since then, I have been taking away (and freezing) Saizeriya’s focaccia bread so that I can make lazy pizza anytime. In place of focaccia bread, you can use other substitutes such as frozen pizza base, pita bread, puff pastry, flatbread and naan.
- Pizza sauce – Use pizza sauce (or better still get a 2-in-1 pizza & pasta sauce like I did). I froze the extra sauce in an ice-tray tray and thaw the ice cubes in a bowl in the microwave (300 watts for 1-2 minutes). If you don’t have pizza sauce, use any tomato-based pasta sauce as a substitute.
- Fresh pineapples – For best results, use sweet (ripened) and fresh pineapples. You can also use canned pineapples though personally I don’t like the taste of canned pineapples very much as they are soaked in sugar syrup.
- Deli ham – Use any favourite deli ham. I’m using loin ham purchased at Donki SG.
STEP-BY-STEP PHOTOS (Hawaiian Focaccia Pizza)
Prepare diced ham and diced/thinly sliced pineapples.
Spread pizza sauce evenly on each foccacia bread using the back of a spoon, leaving a small gap around the edges. After that, add a layer of shredded mozarella cheese over the pizza.
Bake the pizza in the oven until the cheese is just melted and the edges lightly browned.
Scatter pineapples & ham (pictured above) and then bake the pizza at top rack for another 2-3 minutes.
Notes: In an earlier attempt, baking the pizza in one step made my pineapples looked dry after baking. So I added the pineapples and ham only after the cheese melted so that the pineapples will remain juicy and moist due to the shorter duration of baking.
Also, on a whim, I decided to use larger and odd-shaped slices of pineapple just for fun. You can cut it to small triangle or square dices like the conventional Hawaiian pizza look.
As finishing touches, drizzle olive oil and garnish with black pepper and chopped parsley.
Hawaiian Focaccia Pizza Recipe
In place of focaccia bread, you can use other substitutes such as frozen pizza base, pita bread, flat bread, puff pastry and naan.
Check out the step-by-step photos on the previous page.
Ingredients:
- two personal-sized round focaccia bread (about 15 cm)
Per Pizza (Estimate):
- 40g diced or thinly sliced pineapples
- 2 slices diced ham
- 1-2 tbsp pizza sauce (or any tomato-based pasta sauce such as marinara)
- 1/4 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
Suggested Garnishes
- finely chopped Italian parsley
- a small drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
- freshly cracked black pepper
Directions:
- Prepare the ‘pizza’ and bake the cheese. Place focaccia breads on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Spread pizza sauce evenly on each bread using the back of a spoon, leaving a small gap around the edges. Top the bread with shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake in preheated oven of 200°C (392°F), middle rack, for 7 minutes, or until the cheese is just melted.
- Add toppings. Take out the pizza, add pineapples and ham. Transfer to broiler (top rack) for 2-3 minutes, until the pineapples are lightly roasted but still moist.
- Garnish the pizza with fresh chopped parsley, a small drizzle of olive oil and black pepper.
Cooking Note(s):
- In my earlier attempt, baking the whole pizza with the cheese and toppings together make the pineapples look dried out after baking. So I bake the cheese first before adding the pineapples and ham – the pineapples will remain juicy and look moist after a shorter duration of baking. If you don’t want to bake the pizza in two steps, you can add a small ramekin of water to bake together with the pizzas.
- On a whim, I decided to use larger and odd-shaped thin slices of pineapple just for fun. You can cut the pineapple to small triangle or square dices like the conventional Hawaiian pizza look if preferred.