Blossoming focaccia

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Today I'd like to share a recipe for focaccia, an Italian bread that will work perfectly as an appetizer or a snack in its own right served during a party of barbecue.

 

I'll say it straight away, it's not a traditional way to make this bread, where an extremely moist dough is left to ferment for hours. Here the whole process takes around 2 hours, but the bread is fluffy and aromatic nonetheless. I'll flavour my focaccia with rosemary and decorate it with a painting made out of vegetables - it'll be not only tasty, but also beautiful.

You'll find the list of ingredients, method and approximate nutritional value below the video.  



Ingredients (rectangular tin, 37 x 25 cm)

Dough

  • 500 g strong bread flour + 2 tbsp for dusting
  • 7 g dry yeast
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp fresh rosemary
  • 5 tbsp olive oil
  • 300 – 350 ml water

Topping

  • 1 tsp salt flakes
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 peppers
  • 2 cherry tomatoes
  • Chives
  • 2 sprigs rosemary

Method

  1. Into a bowl add 500 g of strong bread flour, 1 tsp dry yeast, 2 tsp salt and 1 tsp of finely chopped rosemary. Mix the contents of the bow through with a whisk.
  2. Make a small well in the middle and pour in 2 tbsp of olive oil. Start mixing the ingredients with a wooden spoon and pour in lukewarm water as you mix. Start with 300 ml and add more if required - the exact amount of water will depend on a range of factors, for example air humidity.
  3. After achieving thick, sticky dough, put it out onto a floured work surface and start kneading until you reach consistency allowing to form a bowl. The whole process should take around 15 minutes, and the dough is not easy to knead because of the high water content, so help yourself with a dough scraper. The dough should be slightly sticky but easy to shape when ready. 
  4. Put the dough into a clean, oiled bowl. Cover the dough with olive oil and cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Set the dough aside to raise for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
  5. After 1 hours the dough should be fluffed up and ready to form. Shape it in a rectangular tin. Pour 1 tbsp of olive oil onto the tin and spread it evenly with a brush. Place the dough onto the oiled surface and stretch it with your fingers, so it fills the tin.
  6. If you don't decorate your focaccia, cover it and set it aside now for 30 minutes. Then make small dips in the focaccia with your fingertips, pour oil on top and put it in the oven.
  7. If you do decorate your focaccia, make the dips now. Pour the remaining olive oil on top and spread it delicately with a brush. Sprinkle salt on top and make decorations using sliced peppers, halved tomatoes, chives, rosemary sprigs or other herbs. Brush the vegetables lightly with olive oil.
  8. Cover the focaccia with plastc wrap and set aside for 30 minutes.
  9. Bake the bread in a conventional oven preheated to 220 deg C for about 20 minutes, until beautiful and golden.
  10. Take the bread out of the oven and drizzle generously with olive oil while it's still hot. Cut the bread into slices and serve with extra olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dip or other favourite accompaniments. 
  11.  Enjoy! 

Approximate nutritional value

100 g

  • 351 kcal
  • Carbs: 53 g 
  • Fat: 10 g
  • Protein: 20 g
  • Fibre: 3 g

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