Focaccia

Samuel Holden's Note:

Italian oil bread with salt on top. Can also be topped with roast peppers, onions, tomatoes--whatever does it for you :) It makes great salad sandwiches, is fantastic for dipping and moping up excess sauces, great for going with salad or tomatoes in oil with basil. Enjoy!

• Total Time: 2 hrs 25 mins
• Prep Time: 2 hrs
• Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 2 loaves

• 4 ½ teaspoons dried yeast
• 450 ml warm water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 120 ml extra virgin olive oil , plus
• additional extra virgin olive oil , for brushing
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
• 750 g white flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• coarse sea salt , to sprinkle

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the yeast, 150 ml of warm water and the sugar.
2. Let sit for 10 minutes until foamy.
3. Add olive oil, the rest of the water and the herbs.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and the salt.
5. Add this to the wet mixture a little at a time and knead to form a dough.
6. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead vigorously for 5-10 minutes adding a little more flour if necessary to keep it from sticking.
7. It will be very sticky to start with, work it until it's "clean".
8. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, turn and coat the whole surface with oil.
9. Cover with a damp warm cloth and let rise in a warm place for at least an hour.
10. Preheat oven to 230ºC and lightly oil two rectangular baking dishes, not too big (I use a small roasting tin), turn out the dough and divide.
11. Press the dough into the dishes, cover and allow to rise for a further 30 minutes (I can never be bothered to wait that long and normally leave it 10-20).
12. Dimple the dough with your fingers and brush with oil.
13. Sprinkle with the sea salt.
14. Place in the oven and reduce the temperature to 190ºC and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
15. Cool on a rack for at least half an hour.

Reviews

[Heather Sullivan]

I made a half batch of this and used bread flour, part-vegetable oil because I ran out of olive oil and all chopped fresh rosemary. The dough was so full of bubbles that I just shaped it and didn't really give it a second rising which didn't affect the texture at all. I also shaped it on a floured wooden board then baked it on a preheated pizza stone. I used maldon sea salt as it has a lovely soft, crumbly and flaky texture.