Focaccia onion board

The pletzel is an Eastern European savory flatbread smothered in onions and poppy seeds with a chew similar to focaccia, but usually thinner and more crisp. Once they made it to America, they were common in Jewish bakeries, going by the name onion board or onion flat. But they’ve fallen out of favor — wrongly, one bite of this will make clear. Let’s bring them back. Put out as part of a breakfast spread, I find them a more indulgent but less heavy bagel alternative that is still fantastic with everything we like on bagels — lox, cream cheese, paper-thin slices of red onion, cucumber, tomato, capers. While the no-knead focaccia base rises, you cook the onions; while the bread bakes, you set out your fixings. When it comes out of the oven, your home smells impossibly good, and you probably didn’t even have to go shopping to make it happen.

Ingredients:

3 cups (390 grams) all-purpose flour

Kosher salt

1 teaspoon (3 grams) instant yeast

1 1/2 cups (355 grams) lukewarm water

Olive oil

2 large yellow onions, halved and thinly sliced

1 1/2 teaspoons poppy seeds