Recco, Liguria — traced to the Crusader period (12th–13th century); IGP designation granted 2015, protecting production within the municipality of Recco
Focaccia di Recco is not focaccia in the conventional sense — it is a completely different preparation, and its similarity to Genoa's thick, olive-oil-drenched focaccia ligure is limited to the name and the region. Focaccia di Recco is a two-layered, paper-thin unleavened flatbread filled with fresh crescenza cheese (stracchino), baked at extremely high temperature until the exterior blisters and caramelises in patches while the interior becomes a molten, oozing river of cheese. It has been designated an IGP (Indicazione Geografica Protetta) product of the town of Recco on the Ligurian coast. The dish's origins are traced to the Crusades — when the men of Recco left for the Holy Land, those who remained survived on flatbread and locally produced cheese, developing a preparation that has continued with minimal evolution for nearly a millennium. The IGP designation specifies not just ingredients but territory: true focaccia di Recco can only be produced within the municipality of Recco and a handful of surrounding towns. The dough contains no leavening, no yeast, no fat — only flour, water, and salt, worked into an elastic, smooth dough that must rest for thirty minutes before being stretched. The stretching technique is the critical skill: the dough is placed on the backs of the hands and stretched progressively until it reaches a translucency almost like filo pastry — you should be able to read text through it. Any tearing is patched. The bottom layer is laid on a well-oiled pizza pan, crescenza is distributed in irregular spoonfuls across the surface — not spread, but dotted — the top layer draped over and sealed at the edges by pressing, then excess pastry trimmed. The top is brushed with olive oil and the surface pricked or torn to allow steam to escape. Baking at 280–300°C for six to eight minutes in a stone oven produces the characteristic blistered, golden surface.
Blistered, caramelised thin pastry encasing molten, mild, milky crescenza — simple ingredients at extraordinary temperature
Stretch the dough as thin as possible — the goal is near-translucency; thick dough produces a tough, chewy result Use crescenza or stracchino cheese — no other cheese has the right melt temperature and mild flavour Dot the cheese rather than spreading — uneven distribution creates pockets of molten cheese at different points Bake at the highest possible temperature — low and slow produces rubbery dough and improperly melted cheese Brush the top with olive oil generously before baking — this is what creates the blistered caramelised surface
Add a small amount of extra-virgin olive oil to the dough (5% of flour weight) for a more elastic, easier-to-stretch result — some modern Recchese bakers include this For restaurants without a wood-fired oven, preheat a steel baking plate or pizza stone for at least 45 minutes at maximum oven temperature The finished focaccia should be eaten within three minutes — the crescenza sets quickly and the pastry softens as it cools A 50:50 mix of crescenza and Gorgonzola dolce is a regional variant worth exploring — the saltiness of the blue cuts the creaminess effectively Dust the oil-brushed surface with a pinch of coarse sea salt immediately before baking
Using leavened dough — focaccia di Recco must be unleavened; yeast changes the texture entirely Stretching the dough too thick — it will be chewy and the cheese will not properly melt through the mass Using mozzarella or other low-acid, low-fat cheeses — they do not melt at the right temperature or in the right way Spread the cheese rather than dotting — uniform distribution produces a less interesting, less dramatic result Baking at too low a temperature — 220°C is insufficient; 280°C minimum is needed for the characteristic blistering