Focaccia is oven baked Italian flat bread. It is deliciously tender and if you add some herbs as rosemary or pesto to it, it makes it aromatic and more interesting. Being a variety of a flat bread it can be used as a side, it can be used as a sandwich bread or it simply can be enjoyed by itself as a snack!
In my case I made it for roasted lamb rack dinner that I served for our anniversary this year. We used it as an appetizer and as a side. It was truly delicious and it worked perfectly in both roles!
One interesting tidbit is that focaccia should be consumed upside down. This way the flavorings are in direct contact with the taste buds on our tongue which in turn greatly enhances the taste experience.
At the end I can say it is really very easy and quick to make! The resting time is little longer then for simple bread, and that is pretty much 90% of the effort. With little patience and effort you will be rewarded with an amazing treat and will for sure look for more!
The recipe has been adapted from Richard Bertinet’s book: “Dough”.
| Prep Time | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time | 25 minutes |
| Passive Time | 2 1/4 hours |
| Servings |
focaccia
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- 500 g all purpose non bleached flour
- 2 tbsp coarse semolina
- 15 g fresh yeast or substitute with 1 1/2 tsp dry active yeast or 1 tsp instant yeast
- 2 tsp fine sea salt
- 311 g filtered water
- 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil + some extra for drizzling
- fresh rosemary springs remove leaves
- coarse sea salt for sprinkling
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil + extra for brushing
Ingredients
Dough
Additional Items
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- In a medium sized mixing bowl add flour and semolina, crumble the yeast and rub it into the flour using your palms.
- Add the salt, water and olive oil to the bowl. Using a plastic bench scraper mix the ingredients. With left hand rotate the bowl counterclockwise while the right hand held scraper scraping the inside of the bowl in opposite, clockwise direction. Continue for 2-3 minutes until a shaggy wet mass is formed, without dry bits. Turn over onto a clean counter.
- Using a French slap (or any other method) knead the dough for 5-8 minutes or until the gluten is fully developed. Use a window pane check to confirm full gluten development. You should be able to stretch the dough thin without breaking.
- Form the dough ball, transfer to the lightly floured mixing bowl, cover and keep at room temperature for 1 hour.
- Using the bench scraper turn the dough onto an oiled baking tray 33 cm x 26 cm (13" x 10.5"). Drizzle some olive oil over the dough. By starting in the middle and working your way outwards lightly press the dough by using finger tips and spread it to fill the tray. Make sure you don't stretch or pull the dough!
- Cover the dough with kitchen towel and let it rest for 45 minutes in warm, drought free area.
- Gently poke and prod the dough all over again by using your finger tips, cover and rest for additional 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven, rack in the middle, to 246ºC (475ºF).
- Insert leaves taken from springs of rosemary and gently insert randomly in the dough. Sprinkle the dough with coarse salt and put it right away into the preheated oven. Reduce temperature to 220ºC (425ºF).
- Bake for about 25 minutes or until is light golden brown.
- Slide it out of the baking pan onto a wire rack, brush it with some olive oil while it is still hot.
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