Classic sourdough focaccia topped with eggs, tater tots, breakfast sausage, béchamel, cheese, and a drizzle of green salsa, this Breakfast Burrito Focaccia is my favorite thing ever.
How do I make sourdough starter?
Ok there are a bunch of different methods for making starter but I follow the Tartine Bakery method which is 1 part starter, 1 part water, 1 part flour (but a 50/50 split of whole wheat flour and bread or all purpose flour). Of course on the first day it will just be flour and water but after that, save about 40 g starter, feed with 40 g room temperature water, and 20 g whole wheat flour, 20 g bread flour. To get a strong starter, you need to feed it once a day everyday for at least 2 weeks.
How is Focaccia different than Sourdough?
Focaccia dough tends to have a higher hydration so that is a higher ratio of water to flour, this is what creates the big bubbles. Focaccia also doesn’t require as much shaping making it an even easier baking process.
Sourdough Focaccia timeline:
- Day before: Early morning, mix “pre dough”. Early afternoon, mix dough, stretch and fold, place it in the fridge.
- Morning of: Take it out and let it proof, then bake for lunch!
Tips for making Breakfast Burrito Focaccia
- Sourdough is all about visual clues so know that it may take some practice and don’t be too hard on yourself.
- Be patient and know that if your room is warm the process will go faster and if it’s cold it will go slower but create more flavor.
- The dough will be quite sticky when you first mix it and for the first couple folds, don’t stress, it will smooth out and come together as it rests. To help with it sticking, wet your hands before stretching and pulling the dough.
- It’s very important this focaccia is fully proofed before assembling. Because there are so many toppings, it needs to be able to bake as quickly as possible which can only happen if it is proofed enough.
- With my classic sourdough I transfer it to the pan the morning of but with this one I like to transfer it immediately after shaping and then let it proof at room temperature for a little before putting it in the fridge.
- Be aggressive with the dimpling, the bread is strong and wants to puff in the oven. Therefore you really have to press down when dimpling the dough.
- The egg yolks will only stay runny if you serve it immediately, if you wait for a bit, the residual heat will finish cooking the egg yolks all the way through.
- If you’d rather top it with bacon than sausage you can absolutely do that too!
Additional Recipes to try:
Ingredients
- Bread Flour: I use King Arthur’s bread flour and find it works great for sourdough starter and all of my sourdough loaves.
- Sourdough Starter: You do need a well established sourdough starter for this recipe. A lot of people have one going so if you don’t have your own you can often buy it from friends or local bakeries!
- Fine Sea Salt: A little fine sea salt enhances the flavors of the bread.
- Water: Water is the liquid in the bread dough.
- Olive Oil: Olive oil gives focaccia it’s classic crispy brown crust. Be sure to taste your olive oil! They aren’t all the same so make sure you’re using one you like!
- Flaky Sea Salt: Flaky salt from Maldon or Jacobsen are best for the top because they won’t dissolve into the bread as it bakes.
- Eggs: It’s best to use high quality eggs for this as they are staying whole and you’ll definitely taste them!
- Tater tots: Ok this might be a little controversial but I think frozen tater tots are amazing and they are PERFECT for this focaccia.
- Breakfast Sausage: Any type of breakfast sausage will work as long as it’s been removed from the casing. I like to use a pork breakfast sausage but you could also use bacon or leave the meat out all together.
- Milk, flour, & butter: I realize these are three ingredients but they’re all basics you need to make the béchamel for this recipe.
- Cheddar: I like a white cheddar for the topping but you can use any cheese just not parmesan as it’ll brown too quickly.
- Green Salsa: This is optional but I like to top this with a green salsa which is made from roasted tomatillos, poblano, jalapeño, onion, and garlic and then blended with cilantro and lime juice.
How to make Breakfast Burrito Focaccia
Morning Before
- Into a medium mixing bowl add in a heaping tablespoon of your sourdough starter. Then add in 100 grams of room temperature water and stir to combine.
- Pour in 100 grams of bread flour. Stir again until combined.
- Lightly cover, not airtight and leave to sit until early afternoon, it should get big and bubbly. To check if it is ready to use, fill a small bowl with water and spoon a tablespoon or so of the bubbly mixture into the water and see if it floats. If it floats it’s ready to use if it sinks, let it sit a bit longer.
To make Green Salsa
- This is optional! Preheat the oven to 475 F.
- Drizzle a baking tray with olive oil.
- Remove the husks from the tomatillos and cut in half. Place the halved tomatillos on the oil baking sheet along with half a yellow onion without the skin and 4 cloves of garlic still in their peel.
- Additionally place a whole jalapeño and poblano on the baking sheet. Drizzle with another tablespoon of olive oil and teaspoon of salt.
- Roast until the poblano has started to char and the tomatillos are broken down. This takes 20-30 minutes.
- Once roasted, take the pan out of the oven. Scoop the onion and tomatillos into a blender along with the jalapeño. If you want it spicier, add the whole jalapeño except the stem, if you want it less spicy, scoop out the seeds before adding it to the blender.
- Peel away as much of the skin of the poblano as you can and pull of the stem and insides. Then add the poblano to the blender along with the juice of one lime and a cup of cilantro. Blend until smooth. Add more lime juice or salt to taste.
Early afternoon mixing
- Into a big mixing bowl add in 100 grams of the bubbly pre dough and 400 grams room temperature water, stir to combine.
- Add in 500 grams bread flour.
- Use your hand to stir and knead the dough until all of the flour has been hydrated aka no dry bits remain.
- Cover the bowl with plastic or a lid and leave it to sit for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, uncover and add in 25 grams more water and 10 grams fine sea salt. Knead again squishing the dough between your fingers. First it will break apart but it will start to come back together. It doesn’t need to be smooth at all just a cohesive dough. Recover and leave to sit out on the counter for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes it’s time to start stretching and folding the dough. Wet your hands, and scoop under the dough and lift from the center, stretching the dough up. Keep pulling until all the dough has lifted from the bowl, then gently lay it back down.
- Turn the bowl 90 degrees and repeat scooping under, pulling, and lifting the dough, then lay it back down.
- Cover the bowl again and leave to sit for 30 more minutes.
- Stretch and pull 3 more times always leaving it to rest for 30 minutes in between.
- After the last stretch and pull and rest, drizzle a 9″x13″ metal baking pan with a tablespoon of olive oil and transfer the bundle of dough into the pan.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for at least an hour – I let it rest for 3-4. At least until the dough has reached the edges of the pan. Transfer the dough to the fridge to rest overnight.
Morning of
- Take the bowl out of the fridge at least 3 hours before you want to have the focaccia.
- To make the béchamel, add the butter into a small pot and let it melt over medium heat. Add in two tablespoons of flour and whisk until smooth. Continue to cook for at least a minute with it bubbling the whole time.
- Reduce the heat to medium low and slowly pour in the milk in three additions, at first it will seize a bit but keep whisking and adding the milk and it will thin out. Cook for about 6 minutes, whisking frequently until thickened. Once thick, pour into a heat safe container and cover the surface with a sheet of plastic to keep it from forming a skin. Allow it to cool to room temperature.
- Roast the tater tots according to the package instructions but make sure they get nice and brown and crispy.
- Lastly cook the breakfast sausage in a cast iron pan until browned.
Assemble & Bake
- Once the dough is bubbly, place a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat to 500 F. Use an oven thermometer because you want to get a good color on the focaccia.
- Once the oven reaches 500 F, uncover the dough and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
- Use your hands to spread it around the surface of the dough, then use the tips of your fingers to press dimples into the dough all over. This will help create big bubbles.
- With a ladle or flat bottomed cup, work one at a time to make dimples to crack the eggs into. Make one dimple then crack one egg, continue until you have evenly space 8 eggs over the surface. I do two rows of four.
- Sprinkle the surface with the crispy tater tots.
- Then use a slotted spoon to evenly distribute the breakfast sausage over the surface leaving any excess fat in the pan. Spoon or pour the béchamel evenly over the surface and then grate the cheese over top in an even layer.
- Place the pan with the focaccia into the hot oven and bake for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes have passed, turn the pan 180 degrees and bake for another 5-8 minutes until golden brown and bubbling on top.
- Once fully baked, remove it from the oven, optionally drizzle with the green salsa. If you want runny yolks you’ll want to cut it almost immediately – if you let it rest and cool the yolks will cook through from the residual heat.
Breakfast Burrito Focaccia
Classic sourdough focaccia topped with eggs, tater tots, breakfast sausage, béchamel, cheese, and a drizzle of green salsa, this Breakfast Burrito Focaccia is my favorite thing ever.
Servings: 8
Equipment
- 1 9" x 13" metal pan
Ingredients
Sourdough Focaccia Pre-Dough
- 1 tablespoon sourdough starter hungry
- 100 grams water room temperature
- 100 grams bread flour
Sourdough Focaccia Dough
- 100 grams pre dough
- 425 grams water divided
- 500 grams bread flour
- 10 grams fine sea salt
Toppings
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 8 eggs large
- 500 grams frozen tater tots
- 453 grams breakfast sausage I like pork but you can do any!
- 2 tablespoons salted butter for béchamel
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour for béchamel
- 300 grams whole milk for béchamel
- 113 grams white cheddar
Green Salsa
- 10 tomatillos large, 15 if they're on the smaller side
- 1 jalapeño
- 1 poblano pepper
- 1/2 yellow onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 lime juiced more to taste
- 1 cup cilantro
Instructions
Morning Before
- Into a medium mixing bowl add in a heaping tablespoon of your sourdough starter. Then add in 100 grams of room temperature water and stir to combine.
- Pour in 100 grams of bread flour. Stir again until combined.
- Lightly cover, not airtight and leave to sit until early afternoon, it should get big and bubbly. To check if it is ready to use, fill a small bowl with water and spoon a tablespoon or so of the bubbly mixture into the water and see if it floats. If it floats it’s ready to use if it sinks, let it sit a bit longer.
To make Green Salsa
- This is optional! Preheat the oven to 475 F.
- Drizzle a baking tray with olive oil.
- Remove the husks from the tomatillos and cut in half. Place the halved tomatillos on the oil baking sheet along with half a yellow onion without the skin and 4 cloves of garlic still in their peel.
- Additionally place a whole jalapeño and poblano on the baking sheet. Drizzle with another tablespoon of olive oil and teaspoon of salt.
- Roast until the poblano has started to char and the tomatillos are broken down. This takes 20-30 minutes.
- Once roasted, take the pan out of the oven. Scoop the onion and tomatillos into a blender along with the jalapeño. If you want it spicier, add the whole jalapeño except the stem, if you want it less spicy, scoop out the seeds before adding it to the blender.
- Peel away as much of the skin of the poblano as you can and pull of the stem and insides. Then add the poblano to the blender along with the juice of one lime and a cup of cilantro. Blend until smooth. Add more lime juice or salt to taste.
Early afternoon mixing
- Into a big mixing bowl add in 100 grams of the bubbly pre dough and 400 grams room temperature water, stir to combine.
- Add in 500 grams bread flour.
- Use your hand to stir and knead the dough until all of the flour has been hydrated aka no dry bits remain.
- Cover the bowl with plastic or a lid and leave it to sit for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, uncover and add in 25 grams more water and 10 grams fine sea salt. Knead again squishing the dough between your fingers. First it will break apart but it will start to come back together. It doesn’t need to be smooth at all just a cohesive dough. Recover and leave to sit out on the counter for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes it’s time to start stretching and folding the dough. Wet your hands, and scoop under the dough and lift from the center, stretching the dough up. Keep pulling until all the dough has lifted from the bowl, then gently lay it back down.
- Turn the bowl 90 degrees and repeat scooping under, pulling, and lifting the dough, then lay it back down.
- Cover the bowl again and leave to sit for 30 more minutes.
- Stretch and pull 3 more times always leaving it to rest for 30 minutes in between.
- After the last stretch and pull and rest, drizzle a 9″x13″ metal baking pan with a tablespoon of olive oil and transfer the bundle of dough into the pan.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for at least an hour – I let it rest for 3-4. At least until the dough has reached the edges of the pan. Transfer the dough to the fridge to rest overnight.
Morning of
- Take the bowl out of the fridge at least 3 hours before you want to have the focaccia.
- To make the béchamel, add the butter into a small pot and let it melt over medium heat. Add in two tablespoons of flour and whisk until smooth. Continue to cook for at least a minute with it bubbling the whole time.
- Reduce the heat to medium low and slowly pour in the milk in three additions, at first it will seize a bit but keep whisking and adding the milk and it will thin out. Cook for about 6 minutes, whisking frequently until thickened. Once thick, pour into a heat safe container and cover the surface with a sheet of plastic to keep it from forming a skin. Allow it to cool to room temperature.
- Roast the tater tots according to the package instructions but make sure they get nice and brown and crispy.
- Lastly cook the breakfast sausage in a cast iron pan until browned.
Assemble & Bake
- Once the dough is bubbly, place a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat to 500 F. Use an oven thermometer because you want to get a good color on the focaccia.
- Once the oven reaches 500 F, uncover the dough and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
- Use your hands to spread it around the surface of the dough, then use the tips of your fingers to press dimples into the dough all over. This will help create big bubbles.
- With a ladle or flat bottomed cup, work one at a time to make dimples to crack the eggs into. Make one dimple then crack one egg, continue until you have evenly space 8 eggs over the surface. I do two rows of four.
- Sprinkle the surface with the crispy tater tots.
- Then use a slotted spoon to evenly distribute the breakfast sausage over the surface leaving any excess fat in the pan. Spoon or pour the béchamel evenly over the surface and then grate the cheese over top in an even layer.
- Place the pan with the focaccia into the hot oven and bake for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes have passed, turn the pan 180 degrees and bake for another 5-8 minutes until golden brown and bubbling on top.
- Once fully baked, remove it from the oven, optionally drizzle with the green salsa. If you want runny yolks you’ll want to cut it almost immediately – if you let it rest and cool the yolks will cook through from the residual heat.
Notes
Tips for making Breakfast Burrito Focaccia
- Sourdough is all about visual clues so know that it may take some practice and don’t be too hard on yourself.
- Be patient and know that if your room is warm the process will go faster and if it’s cold it will go slower but create more flavor.
- The dough will be quite sticky when you first mix it and for the first couple folds, don’t stress, it will smooth out and come together as it rests. To help with it sticking, wet your hands before stretching and pulling the dough.
- It’s very important this focaccia is fully proofed before assembling. Because there are so many toppings, it needs to be able to bake as quickly as possible which can only happen if it is proofed enough.
- With my classic sourdough I transfer it to the pan the morning of but with this one I like to transfer it immediately after shaping and then let it proof at room temperature for a little before putting it in the fridge.
- Be aggressive with the dimpling, the bread is strong and wants to puff in the oven. Therefore you really have to press down when dimpling the dough.
- The egg yolks will only stay runny if you serve it immediately, if you wait for a bit, the residual heat will finish cooking the egg yolks all the way through.
- If you’d rather top it with bacon than sausage you can absolutely do that too!
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