Breads & Baking · European

Focaccia

Name: Focaccia
Total time: 925 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 250 g bread flour; 200 ml water (lukewarm); 1 tsp instant yeast; 1 ¼ tsp salt (fine, in the dough); 4 tbsp olive oil; ½ tsp salt (flaky, for finishing)

6 ingredients · 925 minutes · 8 servings

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175kcal3.4g protein7.1g fat24g carbs~$0.14/ serving*

VegetarianVegan · without onePescatarianNo porkNo alcohol

Contains: gluten

Ingredients

Servings:

250 g	bread flour
200 ml	water (lukewarm)
1 tsp	instant yeast
1 ¼ tsp	salt (fine, in the dough)
4 tbsp	olive oil
½ tsp	salt (flaky, for finishing)
2 sprig	rosemary (leaves stripped)optional
6 unit	cherry tomatoes (halved)optional
¼ cup	olives (pitted, torn)optional
1 tsp	honeyoptional

Method

mix5 min
by hand, no kneading
flour + water + instant yeast + fine salt + 1 tbsp olive oil, stirred with a spoon or wet hand until no dry flour remains and the mass is a sticky, shaggy paste — at 80% hydration there is nothing to knead yet; the gluten has to be built by time and folding, not friction
rest20 min
covered, room temperature
dough undisturbed while the flour finishes hydrating — a dough folded before this rest tears instead of stretching
fold5 min
3 sets, 15 minutes apart
wet hand under one side of the dough, lift until it resists, fold over the centre; rotate and repeat four times per set. The dough goes from soupy to a cohesive, domed ball — this is the whole of the gluten development
ferment720 min
covered, refrigerated 4°C
dough overnight in the fridge. The cold slows the yeast so the bacteria and enzymes get ahead of them, which is where the flavour comes from; it also firms the fat and gluten enough that a dough this wet can be handled at all. A warm 2-hour bulk ferment rises just as much and tastes like nothing
proof150 min
oiled pan, room temperature, covered
2 tbsp olive oil pooled in a 20 cm pan, then the cold dough turned in gently and left to relax and warm through until it fills the corners and wobbles when nudged. Do not press the gas out — those bubbles are the crumb. The oil beneath is not greasing, it is a shallow fry that makes the crisp base
top3 min
oven preheated to 230°C
oiled fingertips pushed straight down through the dough to the pan floor, all over, so the dimples set rather than puff shut + remaining 1 tbsp olive oil into the wells + flaky salt + optionals pressed in. Salt the surface now and not earlier — on a proofing dough it dissolves and draws out a wet, slack skin
bake22 min
230°C, upper-middle rack
until the top is deep gold and the edges have pulled from the pan and fried crisp. Lift it out onto a rack immediately — left in the tin the trapped steam softens the base you just spent 2 tbsp of oil creating