Finally got around to posting a recipe made from my POM juice, given to me by the WONDERFUL POM company! I just needed a little inspiration, which I have been lacking, but I couldn’t be more excited OR pleased at how this came out! Check out more about POM at http://www.pomwonderful.com.
Ingredients:
3 cups of flour (give or take a little)
A packet of yeast
Tablespoon of oregano
1/3 of cup of olive oil (I use a light virgin olive oil, and not quite this much. I drizzle heavily)
1 cup of warm water (you won’t use it all)
Roughly 8 oz of pomegranate juice (I used POM wonderful juice)
¼ of a bell pepper, sliced
Sea Salt
Preheat the oven to 200° F
Combine the flour, yeast and oregano in a large bowl, and slowly add in the olive oil, mixing into the mixture. Then slowly added and mix the warm water and ¼ a cup of pomegranate juice into the flour mix. This will activate the yeast, and will cause your bread to rise. Once you have a nice doughy mix, making sure it’s not too wet, kneed the dough for a bit. Define a bit? Eh…I usually kneed for roughly 2-3 minutes. You should probably do that a bit longer, honestly, but I am impatient. You should have a nice ball when you are done, ready for the oven.
Grease a sheet to put the bread on (I spread about a small amount of olive oil) and then place your lovely little ball of dough on the sheet. Push down the dough just a little, then gently press the pepper slices into the dough.
Turn the oven OFF!!! Cover the bread with a cloth and place in the warm oven for around 40 minutes.
While the bread is rising, we are going to make a nice reduction out of the pomegranate juice. pour 4 oz of the pomegranate juice into a pot, and put it on a low simmer, a medium low. I let this simmer for about 12 minutes, until it thickens, then poured it off in a cup on the side.
Around the 38 minute mark, I will take the towel off and turn the oven back on to 400° F. Take the dough out and first do a light coating of olive oil on top and then drizzle your reduction over it. Sprinkle with sea salt and place it back in the oven. I use a fork, just getting small dollops and drizzling it all over the top. Once it’s back in the oven, I usually end up cooking this for around 20-30 minutes, but keep an eye on it. When it is getting that nice tan/brown color, go ahead and take it out. The pomegranate juice and peppers make this a sweet AND savory treat.
I cooked this tonight because I wanted a bread to make my Tofurkey sandwiches on, and I wanted to make sure I got my fair share of veggies in for lunch tomorrow (You should have some at EVERY meal if you are a vegetarian!). I’ve made stuffed focaccia before, but I haven’t made something where the vegetables are scattered about. It is quite good, and the zucchini scattered throughout keep a great moisture in the bread.