Focaccia is my favourite Italian bread. The olive oil makes it crispy on the outside and soft inside when served hot. On a summer afternoon, we sit in the garden, enjoy our freshly made focaccia with a salad.

I only started making bread a year ago, and I love it. It’s so soft when it’s fresh out of the oven, and I like that I can add anything to it. Most of the time, I add rosemary as it’s the only thing he likes in bread. Sometimes I add basil, olives, sundried tomatoes, and garlic. Roasted garlic tastes amazing in focaccia but it’s quite strong, so you probably won’t be able to taste other ingredients.

Making homemade bread looks complicated and like it’s going to take a lot of time. In fact, it takes only 15-30 minutes. Once I leave the dough to rise, I just go and do other things.

Bread lovers should definitely try it!

Ingredients

250 g strong white bread flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
Half sachet / 3.5 g fast action dried yeast
1 tablespoon olive oil
150 ml water
Rosemary
Garlic slices

Method

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, yeast, olive oil and water until you have a soft dough. Knead the dough in the bowl for about 5 minutes.
2. Lift the dough gently from the bottom and let it fall with a slap against the bowl until you’ve shaped the dough into a ball with a smooth top. Repeat the lifting and slapping for about 5 minutes.
3. Drizzle olive oil on the countertop or chopping board, tip the dough onto it and continue to knead for 5 minutes. Transfer it back to the bowl, cover with a dry tea towel and leave to rise until the dough doubles in size, about 30 minutes.
4. Prepare the baking tray. Grease the bottom with olive oil or line it with parchment paper. Remove the dough from the bowl, place it on the baking tray, flatten it and spread it out to cover the tray, and leave to prove for a further hour.
5. Preheat the oven to 220°C.
6. Spread the rosemary and garlic slices on the dough, drizzle a bit of olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt, and place in the oven for 20 minutes.
7. When it’s ready, drizzle a little more olive oil and enjoy when it’s hot.

Variation

Rosemary, sage and onion

It does taste and like sage and onion stuffing. We made this to serve with soup on a cold late November day, and with this smelling like stuffing it was all a little festive. Maybe the rest can be used for a festive turkey and cranberry sauce sandwich? We won’t need stuffing as the bread already smells like it.

Have you tried making focaccia at home and what’s your favourite topping? Share with me in the comments below 🙂

Janice xx