Focaccia Recipe
Our focaccia recipe is a must-try if you're looking for the perfect dish to start your Italian-themed evening.
We've made this delightful bread numerous times while hosting dinner parties, and it never fails to impress. Ideal for nibbling before dinner or serving as a starter with sides like fresh tomatoes and burrata, this focaccia is sure to become a favourite in your home too. With simple ingredients and a few easy steps, you'll create a deliciously dimpled, golden-crisp bread that's perfect for sharing with friends and family. Enjoy!
Recipe
Ingredients list:
600g strong white flour
15g salt
326g water
10g fresh yeast (or 5g dried yeast)
100g olive oil (with a little extra for topping/ glazing)
Toppings of your choice:
Sea salt flakes (to sprinkle over the top)
Dried Rosemary (or fresh rosemary sprigs)
Olives
Cherry tomatoes
Red Onion slices
Focaccia dough ready to go in to the oil lined bowl
METHOD
Place the strong white flour and salt in a bowl and combine. (If using instant/quick/fast-acting dried yeast, add the yeast now.)
In another bowl, add the fresh yeast to the water and mix until dissolved (this is for those using fresh yeast only.)
Make a well in the centre of the flour/salt mix and pour in the liquid (water/fresh yeast). Bring the mixture together to form a loose dough.
Mix the dough in the bowl for approximately 2 minutes. Don’t be afraid to be fairly vigorous when mixing, as this helps to develop the gluten.
Get a large mixing bowl and line it with the olive oil by pouring 3/4 of the oil (75g) into it. Add your dough to the oiled bowl, spreading the oil over the top of the dough, then give your dough a fold.
Folding technique: To do so, place your hands under one side of the dough, pull it up, and stretch it over to the other side. Repeat from the bottom, the top, and each of the two sides (this is considered a single fold). This helps to incorporate the oil throughout the dough.
6. Leave to rest for half an hour.
7. Give your dough 3 more folds (as above), resting for 30 minutes each time.
8. After the final fold, move the dough to the fridge and leave for 10 minutes.
AND
Preheat your oven to 220°C/fan 230°C/gas mark 7, or as hot as your oven will go.
9. Gently slide your dough onto a lightly oiled tray, fold it in half (it will look like a giant Cornish pasty), and massage the remaining oil into the surface of the dough, ensuring it is evenly covered.
10. Press your fingers into the top of the dough to spread it out along the tray and into the corners. Make sure you press the whole surface to give your focaccia its dimpled appearance.
the dimpled dough; before it goes in to the oven
Topped with sea salt flakes and rosemary sprigs
Served with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, cherry tomatoes & burrata
TOPPINGS:
11. Top with your desired toppings and leave your dough for 30 minutes. (I love sprinkling it with sea salt and fresh rosemary sprigs, but you may want to add cherry tomatoes, sliced olives, or red onions.)
NOTE: If you choose, you can now hold your focaccia for up to 4 hours in the fridge.
12. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes (if you haven’t already done so as part of your toppings), then place your tray in the oven and lightly spritz the oven chamber with water before closing the oven door.
13. Bake for 15 minutes or until your bread is crispy and golden. Take it out, glaze with olive oil, cool, and serve. YUM!
TOP TIPS:
If using dried yeast, you may find it hard to weigh 5g on the scales. We recommend you zero your scale, then add more than you need of the yeast so that the scale can pick up the weight; then start removing the yeast until you get your desired amount. If you try to weigh out 5g gradually by adding to the scale, it is more likely to be inaccurate. Do this for anything you are weighing out in small quantities.
If you have a dough scraper, it is a good tool to use to combine dry and wet ingredients. It’s a utensil you can buy cheaply and we’ve found it is an invaluable tool in baking.
Foccacia
Ingredients
Instructions
- Place the strong white flour and salt in a bowl and combine.
- In another bowl, add the yeast to the water and mix until dissolved. (If using instant/quick/fast-acting dried yeast, mix the yeast through the dry mixture instead.)
- Make a well in the centre of the flour/salt mix and pour in the liquid (water/yeast). Bring the mixture together to form a loose dough.
- Mix the dough in the bowl for approximately 2 minutes. Don’t be afraid to be fairly vigorous when mixing, as this helps to develop the gluten.
- Get a large mixing bowl and line it with the olive oil by pouring 3/4 of the oil (75g) into it. Add your dough to the oiled bowl, spreading the oil over the top of the dough, then give your dough a fold. Folding technique: To do so, place your hands under one side of the dough, pull it up, and stretch it over to the other side. Repeat from the bottom, the top, and each of the two sides (this is considered a single fold). This helps to incorporate the oil throughout the dough.
- Leave to rest for half an hour.
- Give your dough 3 more folds (as above), resting for 30 minutes each time.
- After the final fold, move the dough to the fridge and leave for 10 minutes.
- AND Preheat your oven to 220°C/fan 230°C/gas mark 7, or as hot as your oven will go.
- Gently slide your dough onto a lightly oiled tray, fold it in half (it will look like a giant Cornish pasty), and massage the remaining oil into the surface of the dough, ensuring it is evenly covered.
- Press your fingers into the top of the dough to spread it out along the tray and into the corners. Make sure you press the whole surface to give your focaccia its dimpled appearance.
- TOPPINGS: Top with your desired toppings and leave your dough for 30 minutes (I love sprinkling it with rock salt and fresh rosemary sprigs, but you may want to add cherry tomatoes, sliced olives, or red onions) NOTE: If you choose, you can now hold your focaccia for up to 4 hours in the fridge.
- Sprinkle with salt (if you haven’t already done so as part of your toppings), then place your tray in the oven and lightly spritz the oven chamber with water before closing the oven door.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until your bread is crispy and golden. Take it out, glaze with olive oil, cool, and serve. YUM!
Notes
TIPS:
- If using dried yeast, you may find it hard to weigh 5g on the scales. We recommend you zero your scale, then add more than you need of the yeast so that the scale can pick up the weight; then start removing the yeast until you get your desired amount. If you try to weigh out 5g gradually by adding to the scale, it is more likely to be inaccurate. Do this for anything you are weighing out in small quantities.
- If you have a dough scraper, it is a good tool to use to combine dry and wet ingredients. It’s a utensil you can buy cheaply and we’ve found it is an invaluable tool in baking.