By Gabi Gruber, Online Editor-In-Chief
// Following this recipe, you can transform flour, water, salt, and yeast into crispy and soft focaccia in about 4 hours. Enjoy!
Ingredients (for focaccia):
- 1 packet of active dry yeast
- 6 cups of bread flour
- 2 ½ cups water (room temperature)
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- ½ cup olive oil
Ingredients (for topping):
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 2 tablespoons rosemary leaves
Directions:
- Follow the directions on the yeast packet on how to activate it. (Directions will vary.)
- Once the yeast has been activated, set the mixture aside for about 5 minutes. It should start to appear puffy and cloudy.
- Place the yeast into a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment. Add the water, flour, and salt. Mix this on the lowest speed. Eventually, a loose dough will form from this. Then, increase the speed to medium and continue to mix for about 5 more minutes. Turn the mixer off, and cover the bowl with a damp towel. Leave the dough like this for 10 minutes. Then, turn the mixer on once again and mix the dough until it is very elastic, this should take about 10 minutes.
- After mixing the dough, pour half of the olive oil into a large bowl. Swirl the bowl so that the olive oil coats the sides. Take the dough out of the stand mixer, and put it inside the bowl with the olive oil. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and let it rest for about 1 hour. At the end of the hour, the dough should have doubled in size.
- While the dough is resting, prepare the toppings. Create the mixture for the topping by combining the olive oil, garlic, and rosemary in a small bowl.
- Once the dough has risen, add the remaining olive oil onto a half-sheet pan. Make sure to coat all of the sides and the corners of the pan with the oil. Then, take the dough from the bowl and stretch it several times. Once doing so, put the dough in the pan. Make sure to stretch the dough so that it starts to fill the entire pan. Cover the dough and allow it to rest for 15 minutes.
- Then, uncover the dough and once again stretch the dough so it fits into each corner on the sheet. Once this occurs, cover the dough again. Allow the dough to rest at room temperature for about 40 minutes, or until it doubles in height.
- While the dough rises, preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- Then, uncover the dough and press the dough with your fingers, creating dimples over the entire surface.
- Once the oven is done preheating, bake the focaccia for about 20 minutes.
- Before serving the focaccia, allow it to cool completely.
Photos by Gabi Gruber, Online Editor-in-Chief