Description
Focaccia is soft and chewy, and crispy around the edges. It’s the perfect bread to serve as an appetizer alongside some delicious pasta.
This recipe is strictly using a food scale to measure out the ingredients. It’s way more accurate than using measuring cups and spoons. Unfortunately, I won’t be adding cup conversion. If you are curios what food scale I use, you can click this link: https://amzn.to/2OFapRo
Ingredients
Scale
Levain (you will not use all of this):
- 15g – starter, fed, 100% hydration
- 30g – flour
- 30g – warm water
Main Ingredients:
- 400g – bread flour
- 320g – warm water
- 12g – salt
- 12g – olive oil
Rosemary Garlic Toppings:
- 1–2 tablespoons – olive oil
- 3 – 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 2 sprigs – fresh rosemary, remove from stem and roughly chopped
Equipment:
- Food Scale
- Large mixing bowl
- Rubber spatula
- Plastic wrap or damp cloth
- Baking pan (See notes)
Instructions
First day:
- In the morning, feed your levain and allow it to rise until doubled in size. Mine took about 5 hours. This will vary depending on where you live, the weather, and the strength of your starter. Just observe it closely, and mark the starting point.
- Once your levain is ready, take a large bowl and measure out 64g of levain (you’ll have a little bit left to continue another starter) and mix it in the water until the levain has mostly dissolved in the water. (You’ll get a couple of chunks, but that’s okay.) Then add in the remaining ingredients, olive oil, salt, and flour. Mix with a rubber spatula until you no longer see any dry bits of flour. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow it to rest for 1 hour.
- After 1 hour, perform the first set stretch and folds, cover, and let it rest for 1 hour. You’ll perform 2-3 more sets of stretch and folds with one hour of rest time in-between each set. At your last set of stretch and folds, let it rest for an hour before moving on.
- Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the desired pan. Transfer the dough to the pan and coat it in the oil.
- Using your hands, gently stretch the dough into the edges and corners of the pan. If you notice that the dough is shrinking back, cover and let it rest for 10 minutes and try again until it fills the pan.
- Tightly cover the pan with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for an overnight cold fermentation (14-16 hours)
The next day:
- Remove the pan from the fridge and preheat the oven to 450°F for 30 minutes. (See notes)
- While you wait, prep your toppings. Chop up the garlic and rosemary, set it aside along with the flakey salt. Or whatever toppings you choose.
- Just before you are ready to bake, drizzle olive oil over the top and with your hands spread it over the surface of the dough. Using your fingers, gently dimple into the dough. Just enough so that there are dimples all over, but don’t overdo it, you don’t want to deflate the dough too much.
- Add your toppings. (I like to purposely add some garlic into the dimples, so I can get a bite of roasted garlic).
- Baking for 20-25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, until golden brown.
- Remove the focaccia out of the oven, and let it cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Turn it over to a wire rack to fully cool down.
- Serve the focaccia warm or at room temperature, it’s best the same day it’s made. You can freeze any leftover focaccia and reheat defrosted slices in a toaster or 350°F oven, just until warmed through. Enjoy!
Notes
- You don’t need to use a baking pan or dish that will make the dough fit the edges entirely. Traditionally, focaccia is roughly shaped, so use whatever pan you have — whether it be a baking sheet or a cake pan. The only difference it’ll make is the thickness, so just keep that in mind. I used a small pan with short sides, 9½” x 14″ x 1”, which resulted in a thinner focaccia. If you want a thicker focaccia, use a smaller pan with higher edges, like an 8” x 8” brownie pan.
- You want your oven to be really hot before you bake. Just because the oven will say that it is done preheating, doesn’t mean it’s at the right temp. Letting your oven heat up for 30 minutes or so will ensure that the oven is hot enough.
Keywords: sourdough, recipe, focaccia, bread, appetizers
