Coca de Trempo – Pepper and Onion Coca

Coca de Trempo

Coca comes from the Balearic Islands: it’s very similar to a slim-line pizza (no cheese!) but served at room temperature and equally delicious. A bread dough topped with traditional Spanish ingredients, makes Coca a great breakfast, lunch, tapas or snack. When I’m on holiday in Mallorca I like to buy a slice from the panaderia (bakery) for brunch to nibble on my long walk down to the beach. There are many different varieties of Coca (both sweet and savoury) and here is a recipe for a simple Coca de Trempo – pepper and onion coca. To mix it up I sometimes add artichoke hearts, olives or anchovies too.

Serves: 4, vegetarians and/or meat-eaters.

For the dough

250g strong plain flour

1 ½ tsp dried yeast

1tsp salt

2 tbsp olive oil

A pinch of sugar

200ml warm water

A knob of butter, melted

For the topping

1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped

4 tomatoes, skinned, deseeded and chopped

1 large Spanish onion, peeled and chopped

Handful fresh parsley, chopped

Olive oil

Whisk together half of the warm water with the yeast and sugar and leave to stand for about 10 minutes until a frothy head forms.

Mix the flour, salt, yeast mixture, oil and butter, and add a little at a time of the remaining water to make a soft, pliable dough. Knead for 10 minutes and place covered in a bowl in a warm place to rise for an hour.

Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees, gas mark 6. 

Meanwhile, mix together the peppers, tomatoes, onions, parsley, a glug of olive oil and season with sea salt to taste.

Roll out the dough to about 5mm thick and curl up the edges to make a border. Place on a greased baking sheet and sprinkle the mixed vegetables over evenly. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes. Leave to cool and serve at room temperature.