Speed Bread: Focaccia

I’m celebrating a decade of baking this bread. Ten years ago almost to the day a profile of Suzanne Dunaway, the proprietress of a small bakery called Buona Forchetta, appeared in our local paper. The article included a recipe for this bread and I tried it that day. I’ve been making it ever since, with some changes, mostly unintentional. I still have that tattered newspaper — it stays folded up and jammed in with my cookbooks in the kitchen. I rarely pull it out, but I noticed that I’ve tweaked the amount of yeast. I like it, so I’m leaving it. I’ve also over the years made holes in the bread which aren’t exactly like hers, and are even less like a traditional focaccia. I’m unconcerned. It creates more “edges,” which we gleefully admit we love on this anniversary of one of my family’s regular staples.

Focaccia dough is very straightforward: flour, yeast, water, salt, the basis for most bread and pizza doughs. It isn’t kneaded, though, and is only allowed to rise for half an hour or so. It is more a cousin to a flat, unleavened bread than a loaf. The dough is wetter than kneaded bread doughs, which may be why it forms such a nice crust and has an airy texture. When the wet dough goes into the very hot oven it releases a lot of steam — important to forming a good crust.

“Focaccia” is thought to derive from the Latin word for fireplace or hearth. Not surprisingly its meaning is interchangeable with center, or focal point. This panis focacius may be fireplace bread, but I think of it as the dead center of all things good.

Focaccia | 1 large flat bread

Focaccia was likely the precursor to pizza, but it can be used as a pizza dough of sorts with this recipe. I make it simple, with just a little fresh rosemary and salt, or more elaborate, with tomatoes, garlic (raw or gently sautéed in olive oil), artichoke hearts, even pepperoni. Divide the dough into blobs for fantastic rolls or buns for sandwiches or hamburgers. It’s sticky and blobby, but just bomb ahead.

2 cups warm water, about 90°F
1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
4 cups unbleached flour, preferably bread flour
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
Toppings, such as tomatoes, basil, mozzarella, garlic, pepperoni (optional)
Olive oil
Fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt (for the top of the bread)

Measure the water into a large bowl and sprinkle the yeast on top. Stir well to dissolve.

Add 2 cups of the flour and 2 1/2 teaspoons salt and stir until smooth, about 2 minutes.

Add the remaining two cups of flour and stir until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl, about another 2 minutes. If the dough seems too sticky and wet, add up to another 1/3 cup of flour.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place to rise for 30 to 40 minutes. The plastic wrap keeps in the moisture and warmth.

Meanwhile, prepare any toppings you may want to use on the focaccia.

Preheat the oven to 475°F. Oil a large, heavy baking sheet.

Carefully scrape the dough onto the oiled pan. Pour a small amount of oil onto the dough and begin stretching and pulling the dough to cover the surface.

Sprinkle the dough with rosemary leaves and the additional 1 teaspoon salt.

Instead of rosemary, add toppings (optional).

Place the focaccia in the preheated 475°F oven and immediately reduce the heat to 450°F. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the bread is nicely browned on top.

Let this be the start of a very happy decade of focaccia baking.

Kelly McCune © 2010

Tagged as: Bread