Focaccia

There is something so comforting about freshly baked bread. This focaccia is a hit in my house, and is very forgiving for “non-bakers” like myself.

Ingredients:

3.5 cups of warm water                                                       

2 tbsp. of slow rise baking yeast (or replace with quick rise yeast to shave off 30 mins)

1 tsp of honey/maple syrup

4 tsp. of sea salt (coarsely ground)

½ cup of extra virgin olive oil

8 cups of unbleached flour

4 tbsp. fresh rosemary, chopped (or 3-4 sprigs)

Topping Ingredients:

Feel free to omit or add these toppings suggestions to your preference!

¼ cup of sun dried tomatoes in oil, chopped (use oil as well)

¼ cup of chopped black kalamata olives (remove pits)

¼ chopped fresh basil

¼ grated parmesan cheese or aged cheddar cheese

2-3 garlic cloves, chopped

Directions:

In a large bowl add the warm water, yeast, honey/syrup and salt. Stir until mixed. Add the yeast and cover bowl with a damp dish towel and wait 30 minutes. *Note: if mixture does not foam and bubble, yeast is not active and needs to be thrown away.

Remove dish towel and add rosemary to the liquid, stir until mixed. Slowly begin adding the flour, mixing well with your hands until all of the flour is mixed in.

Cover dough with damp dish towel ensuring you still have room for dough to double in size (you may need to divide dough into two bowls if there isn’t enough room). Allow 1-2 hours to rise, after dough has doubled in size punch down, and cover with damp cloth and allow to rise a second time for an additional 1-2 hours. Once second rise is complete, punch down and distribute dough into any size of glass baking dish you prefer (the smaller the glassware and dough mixture, the less time it will take to bake).

Distribute dough evenly into corners of pan and punch down using your two index fingers covering the entire surface of the dough (like two finger typing), this will create the bumps on the top of the bread that is classic in foccacia bread. *Alternative rising method: cover the dough with plastic wrap and put in fridge. Allow dough rise to occur slowly over night. The next day punch down and allow second rise.

Preheat oven to 350F. Add all toppings to dough, spread out evenly, use sun dried tomato oil to cover surface of dough. Allow to rise 20-30 minutes before baking, uncovered. Place in oven and cook for 20-45 minutes depending on how large glassware used is. You can also check the doneness in the centre of the bread by using a long toothpick, it will come out dry when bread is done. Serve warm with your favourite oil or butter and enjoy!

*Note: after allowing two rises and garnishing dough, you can cover with plastic wrap and freeze dough until needed. Allow dough to thaw (1-2 hours) and rise slightly before baking from freezer.

Pictures are my focaccia topped with heirloom tomatoes, fresh basil and 3-year-aged Canadian white cheddar. Major yum factor!