Eight ingredients and thirty-five minutes for eight squares. The dough is pressed into a rectangular pan rather than stretched into a round, which is what keeps it thick.
Two of the three things people expect on a pizza are absent. There is no tomato sauce and no mozzarella; the topping is five ounces of feta and a honey glaze added after the oven.
Why This Recipe Works
- Pressing into an oiled 9-by-13 pan holds the dough thick where stretching would thin it.
- Dimpling gives the oil somewhere to sit and creates the uneven golden surface.
- Feta added before the bake softens and browns at the edges without melting into a layer.
- 450 degrees for fifteen to eighteen minutes cooks a thick bread through while colouring the top.
- Warming the honey for a minute makes it fluid enough to drizzle without cooking it to caramel.
Ingredient Notes
- Focaccia or pizza dough
- A pound, pressed into a 9-by-13 pan. The pan and the pressing are what make it focaccia-thick; the same dough stretched into a round would be a different bread.
- Feta
- Five ounces, crumbled on before the bake. It is the only cheese in the recipe — there is no mozzarella.
- Apple cider vinegar
- A teaspoon, warmed into the honey. Small, and it is what keeps a third of a cup of honey from reading as pure sweetness.
- Flaky salt
- A quarter teaspoon at the very end. Against honey and feta it lands as texture as much as seasoning.
How to Make It
Press it thick, not thin
Heat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Press dough into an oiled 9-by-13-inch pan so it stays thick and focaccia-like.
Dimple, oil, feta — and nothing else
Dimple the dough, brush lightly with olive oil, and scatter feta over the top. Do not add tomato sauce or mozzarella.
Bake deeply golden
Bake 15 to 18 minutes until the bread is deeply golden and cooked through.
Warm the chilli honey
Warm honey with red pepper flakes and vinegar for 1 minute.
Cut, drizzle, finish
Cut into squares, drizzle with hot honey, and finish with oregano or thyme and a small pinch of flaky salt.
Four Steps, and Two Deliberate Omissions
This is called a pizza and is built like a focaccia. Each rung explains one of the differences, and the second rung is where the two things a pizza usually has are refused.
Press, do not stretchPressed into a pan, not stretched into a round
1 lb of prepared focaccia or pizza dough PRESSED into an oiled 9-by-13-inch pan so it stays THICK and focaccia-like. A round stretched by hand thins in the middle by design; a rectangular pan holds the dough at whatever depth it is pressed to. The thick base is the point.
Dimple, oil - and refuse two thingsFeta only, before the bake
Dimpled with the fingertips, brushed lightly with 1 tbsp olive oil, and 5 oz of crumbled feta scattered over. Then the recipe's own instruction: DO NOT ADD TOMATO SAUCE OR MOZZARELLA. Those are the two things that would make this a pizza rather than a honeyed focaccia, and both are refused in the same sentence.
450F for fifteen to eighteenDeeply golden, cooked through
Baked until the bread is deeply golden and cooked through. A thick base needs the full window; the dimples are what give the uneven golden surface rather than a flat pale one, because the oil pools in them.
The honey goes on AFTERWarmed 1 minute, drizzled after cutting
1/3 cup honey warmed with 1 tsp red pepper flakes and 1 tsp apple cider vinegar for 1 MINUTE only - fluid, not caramelised - then the bread cut into squares and drizzled. After the oven, so it stays glossy and red-flecked rather than baking dull and dark. Finished with 1 tsp oregano or thyme leaves and 1/4 tsp flaky salt.
Success Tips
- Press the dough out to the corners but do not stretch it thin.
- Dimple firmly with your fingertips; flat dough bakes flat.
- Drizzle the honey after cutting, so it runs down the cut edges as well as the top.
Serving Ideas
Eight square slices on parchment, the thick golden bread scattered with crumbled feta under a glossy red-flecked hot honey with small oregano or thyme leaves and a pinch of flaky salt.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is the tomato sauce?
There is none, and no mozzarella either — step 2 rules both out. The topping is feta before the bake and hot honey after it.
Can I make it as a thin crust?
The recipe is a thick focaccia-style base pressed into a rectangular pan. A thin round would be a different bread.
Why warm the honey?
Only until fluid, so it drizzles. Warmed further it starts to caramelise and sets on the bread instead of glazing it.
