My first real bread experiment went pretty well so I was excited to try again, but it’s a pretty time-consuming process so I had to wait for the right day.

I’ve been wondering how to use up all my oregano since my little plant exploded this spring and I came across this recipe for oregano and asiago focaccia. It sounded yummy so I decided to try it out. The timing works out nicely, too, because today is herbs and spices day!

I started by giving the oregano a haircut. I cut off a little more than twice what I ended up using in the bread because I wanted to cut the whole thing back to stop the middle from dying out. The rest is sat in a glass of water on my kitchen windowsill while I work out what to do with it.

Call me lazy (I am) but I didn’t like the sound of using 2 different bowls for no apparent reason so I just greased one large bowl and did my mixing straight in that.

I didn’t have quick-rise yeast but I just mixed my active-dry yeast with the warm water and half the sugar and allowed it to sit for a few minutes until it started to froth. Then I mixed everything together as instructed.

Stirring in the cheese was probably the hardest part because the dough was, by then, one sticky lump that all moved together. I found what worked best was to sprinkle the asiago on any cheese-less areas I spotted as I mixed. I also used a bit extra cheese because… cheese!

The rest was plain sailing. I did leave it in the oven a bit too long, because I didn’t hear the timer go off, but I don’t think it was more than a couple of minutes. The top was maybe a bit browner and a bit chewier than it should have been but it didn’t really matter, the bread is delicious and I need to find time to make it weekly! I know, I know, bread is carbs but at least this bread has some protein and fat in it, and even some green!