Crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside. Plus you can put anything on top of it and it will be delicious - not I am not talking about my personality. It's the Italian classic that was used to feed the hungry dock workers: Focaccia bread. With only 4 ingredients use the best ones you have and it will shine!
Ingredients
7 grams Active Dry Yeast
780 grams (about 6 cups) Bread Flour
17grams Salt (kosher)
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) quality matters here as it is where most of the flavor comes from so look for 1st cold press if you can.
3 cups water
Equipment need:
Half baking sheet
Stand Mixer + dough hook
Food scale
Mixing bowl
Directions:
Mix 1/2 cup warm water and active dry yeast together in the bowl of our stand mixer until dissolved and let culture for 10 minutes to ensure yeast is alive. Yeast will bubble up to indicate it is alive and ready to help our bread rise. This is called proofing your yeast.
Add your dough hook to the stand mixer and 2 1/2 cups room temperature water to the stand mixer. Add bread flour and salt to the stand mixer. Slowly start to mix the water, yeast, and flour together. It will look very wet at this point before the gluten has developed. You can slowly increase the speed as the water and flour combine.
After 5-7 minutes of mixing turn off and cover the bowl (without removing the dough hook) in a stand mixer and let the dough rest for 10 minutes. After this rest remove the cloth and turn the speed to medium-high. Mix for another 10-15 minutes until the dough starts to release from the sides of the bowl. You want the dough to become smooth and elastic.
In a large bowl place 1/4 cup of EVOO and use your hands to coat the inside of the bowl with oil. Transfer your dough from the stand mixer bowl to the EVOO bowl. Slowly work the dough inside ensuring that the oil is surrounding the dough and will keep it from sticking. Cover and let rest until it has doubled in size (usually 1.5-2 hours).
After the dough has doubled in size ready your baking sheet. Add the other 1/4 cup EVOO to the sheet and transfer the dough after giving it a few good turns in the bowl.
Stretch the dough as much as you can using your hands toward the edges of the oil lined baking sheet. There will be a lot of bounce back at this point. Stretch as much as you can and then cover the tray and let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
After the dough has rested you should be able to stretch dough more easily into the corners of the baking sheet. At this point you have 2 options 1) final rise in tray 40-55 minutes 2) place in the refrigerator overnight (which increases fluff and flavor) then remove and let come to room temperature.
You will now dimple the dough. Use your fingers coated in EVOO to make dimples in the dough. Add desired toppings (EVOO and flake salt, fresh herbs, tomato slices, cheese, ANYTHING).
Preheat oven to 450F. Bake on the bottom rack for 20-25 minutes. Remove and place on top rack for an additional 5-10 minutes to crisp the top of bread. Let it cool slightly on a wire rack before cutting and enjoying!
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