Focaccia has got to be the most famous of all Italian breads & definitely a favourite in my household. It’s plain delicious just topped with rosemary and sea salt or can be made more interesting with toppings like olives, tomatoes, caramelised onions and so on.
A focaccia can also be topped with all sorts of cold cut meats and grilled vegetables and even used to make sandwiches. It is made of a dough similar to that of pizza, consisting of flour, water, olive oil and yeast. Main difference being the amount of yeast, you’d use much less when making a pizza as you wouldn’t want it to rise much. Better results can be achieved if made with a high protein, strong flour but AP flour is also widely used.
The dough will be ready in 6-7 minutes if using a stand mixer. By hand, knead for a good ten minutes.
Yeast is a live organism that is combined with warm water and sometimes sugar to be activated. It then gets mixed in your flour for a crusty and airy bread. When yeast is dissolved in water it releases carbon dioxide bubbles & alcohol. While the carbon dioxide bubbles cause the bread to rise, alcohol gives it flavour. Yeast also helps the gluten formation which is important for a strong dough with a soft and elastic texture and a good rise.
The more yeast you use the quicker your dough will rise and be ready to bake. Sounds good, doesn’t it? It’s not really. I know that a quick rise could be important for who has little time but this can bring some unwanted results. Dough that rises too quickly will produce too much gluten and this may cause it to collapse. The other thing it will effect is the taste of your bread. You will end up with bread that tastes sour and very yeasty, also not a very good thing for sensitive tummies. When you make your dough with little yeast and let it rise slowly, it will produce more alcohol and result in a delicious bread.
Even tough I love the breads made with natural yeast, I often use instant yeast for it’s practicality. The amount of yeast depends on the temperatures outside. Considering I don’t live in a very cold climate, I use about 2 gr in winter months and half that in the summer. If I need to speed up the rise I place the bowl in the oven with just the light turned on. After a while the oven warms so very slightly with that tiny bulb and as a result the dough rises a little quicker.
Although you can add instant dry yeast straight in to the flour, I always dissolve it in a little warm water. And add the salt towards the end of kneading as it might prevent the yeast from doing it’s job. I use a high protein, strong flour that is labelled “for pizza”, sometimes on its own and sometimes mixed with all purpose. You can also go for all AP or use a bread flour of your choice.
The amount of water you need will depend on the type of flour, the humidity of the flour and the environment that you are in. Even though I like my numbers and measure everything when baking, the term “as much as it takes” is suitable here. You need to end up with a soft dough that sticks to your hands a little. If I had to give numbers the water you’ll need should be %50-%60 of the amount of flour in your recipe. You shouldn’t worry about adding too much water though, it can deal with plenty water. What we don’t want is too much flour as it will result in a tough focaccia. If you are kneading by hand, you might want to grease the work top with some oil instead of flour. This way you’ll avoid adding extra flour into your dough.
After we shape the focaccia, we’ll make little holes on the surface with our fingertips. This will not only make it look pretty and professional 🙂 but keep it nice and moist with the helping of the olive oil and water that we’ll sprinkle over before baking.
We need a very hot oven for a nicely baked focaccia, so fire it up at least half an hour before you are ready to bake. If you want your focaccia a step closer to the ones baked in professional ovens you can use a pizza stone. This way it will bake quicker with a nice crust on the bottom and won’t be dry inside.
- 500 gr flour
- 250-300 ml room temp water
- 10 gr salt
- 2-3 gr instant dry yeast
- 3 Tbs warm water
- .
- For the top
- 2 Tbs olive oil
- 3-4 Tbs water
- 1 tsp coarse sea salt
- fresh rosemary
- Dissolve yeast in 3 Tbs warm water.
- Place flour in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Add in the dissolved yeast and start mixing on low speed.
- While it's running pour in the water slowly from the side of the bowl and let it knead on medium low speed for 6-7 minutes.
- Once you have a smooth and elastic dough, place it in a large bowl brushed with a Tbs of olive oil. (You can also utilise your stand mixer's bowl) Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise for a couple of hours, until doubled in size.
- Once it's risen you can either give it four folds in the bowl or knead it very briefly on the work surface.
- Place the dough on a piece of parchment paper and spread with your greased fingers to a diameter of 11-12 inches (28-30 cm). Make dimples with your fingertips all over the top. Cover with a large piece of plastic wrap and let rise again for 45-60 minutes in a draft free spot. (if using a square or rectangular pizza stone/sheet pan shape the focaccia accordingly)
- While the focaccia is rising for the second time, preheat the oven on maximum. Place the pizza stone on the rack positioned in the middle.
- Once the focaccia has risen, remove the plastic wrap. Pour over 2 Tbs of olive oil (you can be a little generous here if you like, as we didn't put any oil in the dough). Go over the dimples you made previously and sprinkle with 3-4 Tbs of water, coarse salt and the rosemary.
- Place it in the oven. Get help from a pizza spade or a large chopping board to transfer the dough on to the stone with the parchment paper.
- Bake for 10-13 mins on the pizza stone until golden brown. If baking on a sheet pan add 2-3 mins to the cooking time.
- Once baked transfer on to a cooling rack and rest for a few minutes. You can brush with a little more oil if you like. Slice and serve.
Cooking time can slightly vary in your oven.
Leftover focaccia makes for great sandwiches, you can slightly warm it up in a low oven.
Focaccia also freezes well. Just place big pieces in a freezer bag, remove from the freezer about an hour before you want to eat it.
One last thing I'd like to say is that, when making focaccia or bread in general you should trust your instincts. You should feel the dough, caress it, give it love. And don't be put of if it doesn't come off perfect the first time.