Focaccia

This is the best recipe for focaccia I’ve ever found. The flavor is just extraordinary. It’s become my summer sandwich bread, and as long as I have some on hand I feel reassured. When I’m out, every time I enter the kitchen I think, “I have nothing to eat!” It’s a really flexible bread. It turns out well thin and crispy-almost like a pizza-or thick and chewy.

It takes a variety of toppings very well. Lately I’ve been going with a simple sprinkling of sea salt and pepper, as in the photo above. Rosemary also works well. You could throw raisins into the dough on the second day, or sun-dried tomatoes, nuts or olives.

If you want a cheese focaccia, sprinkle on blue cheese, mozzarella or feta just before baking. These are high-moisture cheeses and can take the high heat throughout the baking process. If you want to use a dry or harder cheese like Parmesan, jack or cheddar, add about midway through the baking process.

While it does involve making a starter, both steps of the recipe are very simple.

Ingredients:

Starter
2 1/4 cups bread flour
1 tsp. dry yeast
3/4 cup water + up to 1/2 cup as needed

Focaccia
2 cups + 2 tablespoons bread flour
2 tsp. dry yeast
3 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cup water
Starter, cut into pieces

For the starter, mix bread flour and yeast, then add 3/4 cup water. Mix in mixer using dough hook. Add remaining 1/2 cup water as necessary, until dough comes together. Mix at low-medium speed for four minutes.

When the dough is smooth, remove and place into oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, combine bread flour with dry yeast, then add water. Mix using dough hook until just combined, then add the starter in pieces. Mix at low-medium speed for four minutes, then add the salt and mix an additional four minutes.

Remove and place in oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for an hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. If you want the bread to be crispy, put the baking sheets in the oven to preheat. Spread olive oil on the cookie sheets. For thinner bread, divide the dough in two and spread onto two baking sheets. For a thicker, less crispy bread, use only one baking sheet for the entire batch.

Place the dough on the sheet, pour a bit more oil on top and spread with your hands until dough covers the sheet. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and any other desired topping.

Bake for about 18 minutes, more for a thicker bread.