It arrives at the table warm, golden, and fragrant, carrying the scent of rosemary and good olive oil. Its soft, airy centre invites you to tear off a piece. Its crisp, sea-salted edges encourage you to reach for another. And when it is served with a bowl of vibrant, earthy nettle pesto, it becomes more than bread.

It becomes an offering.

This sea salt and rosemary focaccia with nettle pesto is one of the dishes from Nova’s new vegan wedding and party catering menu. It is made entirely from scratch, with simple plant-based ingredients and plenty of time for the dough to rise slowly into something light, pillowy, and full of flavour.

Serve it at a wedding feast, alongside seasonal salads and generous platters. Place it in the centre of a retreat table after a morning of flow yoga. Or bake it for the people you love, then gather around while it is still warm.

Food tastes better when it is shared.

Why this focaccia belongs at the gathering table

Focaccia is wonderfully unfussy. You do not need perfect shaping or specialist equipment. In fact, its rustic, dimpled appearance is part of its charm.

The dough is mixed, rested, stretched, and gently pressed with your fingertips. Olive oil gathers in the little wells. Rosemary perfumes the surface as it bakes, while flaky sea salt adds a delicate crunch to every bite.

The result is deeply comforting but not heavy: soft enough to tear apart with your hands, sturdy enough to carry a generous spoonful of pesto.

At Nova Milesko, nourishment is woven into the whole retreat experience. After movement, meditation, a coastal walk, or a restorative sound bath, you need food that feels wholesome, satisfying, and lovingly prepared. You can read more about this philosophy in A Taste of the Retreat: Nourishing Vegan Recipes from Our Latest Escape.

This focaccia carries that same spirit. It is approachable, generous, and made to bring people together.

Sea Salt & Rosemary Focaccia

Makes: 1 large tray, approximately 30 x 40cm
Serves: 8–12 as part of a sharing table
Prep time: 30 minutes, plus rising
Bake time: 20–25 minutes
Dietary: Vegan

Ingredients

• 500g strong white bread flour
• 7g fast-action dried yeast
• 10g fine sea salt
• 375ml lukewarm water
• 60ml extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for the bowl, tray, and topping
• 2–3 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves, roughly chopped
• 1–2 tsp flaky sea salt

Method

1. Begin the dough. Add the flour to a large mixing bowl. Place the yeast on one side and the fine salt on the other. Keeping them separate at first helps the yeast get to work happily.
2. Pour in the lukewarm water and olive oil. Mix with a wooden spoon or your hands until you have a soft, sticky dough with no dry flour remaining. It may look a little untidy at this stage. That is exactly as it should be.
3. Knead with patience. Knead by hand for around 8–10 minutes, or use a stand mixer with a dough hook for 5–6 minutes. The dough will gradually become smoother and more elastic, although it should remain soft and slightly sticky. Try not to add lots of extra flour, as this can make the finished focaccia dense.
4. Let it rise. Lightly oil a clean bowl and place the dough inside. Turn it once so it is lightly coated, then cover with a clean tea towel or reusable cover. Leave somewhere warm for 1–2 hours, until doubled in size.For an even deeper flavour, you can cover the bowl and let the dough rise slowly in the fridge overnight. Bring it back to room temperature before shaping.
5. Prepare the tray. Pour a generous layer of olive oil into a 30 x 40cm baking tray. Tip in the risen dough and gently stretch it towards the corners. If it resists, leave it for 10 minutes, then try again. The dough will relax as it rests.
6. Cover loosely and leave for a second rise of 30–45 minutes, until puffy and soft.
7. Dimple the dough. Preheat your oven to 220°C / 200°C fan / gas mark 7. Drizzle more olive oil over the dough. Then, with oiled fingertips, press deep dimples all over the surface, gently pushing right down towards the base of the tray.
8. Scatter over the chopped rosemary and flaky sea salt. Add another generous drizzle of olive oil, allowing it to pool in the dimples.
9. Bake for 20–25 minutes, until the focaccia is puffed, golden brown, and crisp around the edges. The base should feel firm and lightly browned.
10. Leave it to cool for 10 minutes before tearing or slicing into squares. Serve warm, if you can.

This classic approach is similar to the method used in this rosemary and sea salt focaccia recipe from BBC Food, where a generous amount of water and olive oil helps create that lovely open, tender crumb.

Earthy Nettle Pesto

Nettles bring a beautiful wildness to the table. Once blanched, they become tender and mellow, with a deep green colour and an earthy flavour that sits somewhere between spinach, parsley, and spring greens.

The pesto is completely vegan, using toasted walnuts and nutritional yeast for richness, lemon for brightness, and extra-virgin olive oil to bring everything together.

Ingredients

• 100g young nettle tops and tender leaves, or approximately 4 packed cups
• 1 small garlic clove
• 60g walnuts, lightly toasted
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• Finely grated zest and juice of ½ lemon
• 100ml extra-virgin olive oil, plus more if needed
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Method

1. Handle the nettles safely. Put on rubber gloves before touching fresh nettles. Use only young tops and tender leaves from a clean, trusted source. Avoid plants growing close to roads, sprayed land, or areas where dogs and other animals regularly pass.
2. Rinse the nettles carefully in cold water while wearing gloves, removing any grit or tough stems.
3. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add the nettles and blanch for 1–2 minutes, until wilted and bright green. This cooking step removes their sting.
4. Drain the nettles, then plunge them into a bowl of iced water. This helps preserve their beautiful colour. Drain again and squeeze very thoroughly to remove excess water. Roughly chop.
5. Add the garlic and toasted walnuts to a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped but not completely smooth.
6. Add the blanched nettles, nutritional yeast, lemon zest, lemon juice, and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Pulse again.
7. With the processor running, slowly pour in the olive oil until the pesto becomes thick but spoonable. Taste and adjust with more lemon, salt, pepper, or olive oil as needed.
8. Spoon into a bowl and finish with a little olive oil on top.

Serving your focaccia

For a relaxed celebration, place the focaccia on a large wooden board with the nettle pesto in the middle. Let guests tear off pieces and dip as they please.

It works beautifully with:

• Roasted vegetables and marinated artichokes
• Crisp seasonal salads
• White bean, butterbean, or lentil dishes
• Grilled asparagus or tenderstem broccoli
• Good olives and lemony plant-based dips
• Sparkling water with lemon, or a chilled glass of something celebratory

For a wedding feast, you can bake the focaccia in several smaller trays and cut each one into generous squares. It is easy to pass around, naturally inviting, and just rustic enough to make a beautifully styled table feel relaxed rather than formal.

For a retreat table, serve it alongside a colourful plant-based lunch after a morning of movement. The rosemary and sea salt awaken the senses, while the olive oil and pesto bring a feeling of abundance. It is the sort of food that encourages you to pause between bites, talk a little longer, and notice how good it feels to be cared for.

A few gentle kitchen notes

• Do not eat fresh nettles raw. Always blanch, cook, or otherwise heat them thoroughly before eating.
• If you cannot source nettles, use young spinach, rocket, or a mixture of parsley and spinach instead.
• For a nut-free pesto, replace the walnuts with toasted sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds.
• The focaccia is best on the day it is baked, but leftovers can be warmed gently in the oven the following day.
• If you are preparing this for an event, clearly label the pesto and check for allergies, particularly wheat and nuts.

There is a quiet kind of joy in baking bread for a gathering. You mix the ingredients, wait while the dough softens and grows, then offer something warm to the people arriving at your table.

That is the heart of Nova’s vegan wedding and party catering: thoughtful food, made from scratch, prepared with care, and served in a way that lets everyone feel welcome.

And whether you are planning a wedding, a birthday, a retreat, or simply a long lunch with friends, this is your invitation to slow down and make something nourishing.

If you would like to explore Nova Milesko’s retreat experiences, or discuss bringing plant-based catering to your own celebration, get in touch. Your table, your gathering, your moment of nourishment ( we would love to help you make it beautiful.)