Focaccia our way
Updated: Mar 22, 2021
Soft, a bit crunchy, oily and preferably with some crushed salt on top.
Everyone likes focaccia in different ways and in Italy there are lot of varieties. Some people eat only at lunch time or in the evening, filled as a sandwich or with some cured meats and cheeses on the side, others like in Genova eat it with a cappuccino on the side.
I am for focaccia all day long as I bet lot of you, the baker here is saying a no no and she would never touch it in the morning, she is a sweet woman.
This type of focaccia is studied to be done at home with a domestic oven but it does not mean you will not obtain a great result! Just follow the method below and you'll get a great focaccia and everyone will be screaming WOW!
INGREDIENTS
- 500 gr of plain flour
- 280 ml of water at room temperature
- 25 ml of extra virgin olive oil
- 10 gr of salt
- 5 gr of dried yeast
METHOD
In a little cup put the salt, add around 20 ml of water (from the total of 280 ml in the recipe) at room temperature and mix it.
Put all the flour and the yeast in the bowl of you kitchen mixer.
Add half of the water in the bowl and start mixing. Then after you see the water is getting absorbed, add slowly the rest of the water and keep mixing.
Add the water with the salt and keep mixing until you have the consistence of a dough coming up as in a vortex.
Once the water is absorbed add the extra virgin olive oil and keep mixing until absorbed.
Now prepare your surface with some flour and put your dough in it and start shaping it as a rectangular and fold it in three, first from the right, second from the left.
Put some flour on top of your dough so the cling film is not getting attached to it.
Cover it with some cling film and then with a towel. It is important no air is entering. The dough needs to stay covered not to get dry.
Leave it to rest for 30/40 minutes.
Uncover the dough and keeping the same rectangular shape press gently the dough to enlarge it.
As you did before, fold it again in three, first from the right, second from the left. Put some flour on top as before and cover again with the cling film and the towel and leave it to rest for another 30/40 minutes.
Put some olive oil in your baking tray and distribute it all around with your hand.
Put some flour in your hands and under and on top of the dough, twist it and shape it with the help of a rolling pin as big as the size of your tray giving the rectangular shape gently.
Now move it to the tray, put some sea salt on top and distribute it all around the focaccia and let it rest for another hour in the oven that has to be off.
Now distribute all the dough in the tray, gently and shaping well in the corners.
Prepare on the side a little bowl with 30 ml of warm (not hot) water and 10 ml of extra virgin olive oil, mix it and distribute it gently on top of the focaccia, being careful not to let it go below and leaving your finger prints all over the dough.
Let it other 45 minutes to rest in the oven, always off.
Move out the focaccia from the oven and turn it on in a static mode and pre-heat at 220 C or 180 C if fan oven.
Cook now your focaccia for around 20 minutes in the middle rack and to check if it is cooked well also in the bottom.