Garlic & rosemary focaccia

Focaccia is one of my favourite breads to bake, with no-kneading required, we use a stretch and fold technique here to create it’s signature air bubbles. Soft and chewy with a golden, crispy crust, see notes for storage and topping variations. This is a firm favourite and so easy!

Time to prep : 30 minutes

Rise time : 3.5 hours

Bake : 20 - 25 minutes

Serves : 12

Ingredients

500g strong white bread flour*

420ml lukewarm water

9 tbsp olive oil

7g instant yeast*

2 tsp honey*

2 tsp salt

Fresh rosemary

4 cloves garlic

Method

Dough

1. In a measuring jug filled with the lukewarm water, add 1 tbsp olive oil, honey and instant yeast. Whisk with a fork to combine.

2. In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour and salt together.

3. Pour the wet ingredients in with the dry ingredients and use a spatula to mix until nearly combined. Use damp hands to finish mixing the dough together until all the dry ingredients have been absorbed, scraping down the sides and base of the bowl. The dough should be wet and sticky. Cover with a tea-towel or cling film and rest for 15 minutes.

4. Uncover your dough and use damp hands to stretch and fold the dough. Starting at the top of the bowl, take a handful of dough and fold it back onto itself. Rotate the bowl 1/4 and repeat until you’ve completed 8 stretch and folds (or 2 full rotations of the bowl). Cover with a tea-towel or cling film and rest for another 15 minutes.

5. Uncover your dough and repeat the stretch and fold process for a second time, completing 8x stretch and folds again. The dough should have risen slightly by now and be a lot less sticky to handle. Cover with a tea-towel or cling film and leave to rest for 90 minutes.

Preparation

1. Grease and line a 9 x 13" baking tin or dish with baking paper. I use these metal clips to keep the baking paper in place.

2. Make the garlic and rosemary infused oil by peeling and finely chopping or mincing the garlic, place in a small bowl. Pluck a handful of fresh rosemary leaves or bunches and add in the bowl with the garlic. Pour over 4 tbsp olive oil, making sure the rosemary and garlic are submerged. Set to one side.

Dough

1. Uncover your dough, it should have risen significantly. Pour 4 tbsps of olive oil into the base of your prepared baking dish, on top of the baking paper, and spread this around the base and sides.

2. Use your hands to tip the dough into the baking dish. Do a final stretch and fold, taking one side of the dough and folding it back onto itself, repeating with the opposite side, like you would fold the sides of a burrito or fajita. Turn the dough so it’s lengthways in the baking dish and then flip it over, so that the smooth side is on top and the folds are on the bottom. Cover with a tea-towel or cling film and let it rest again for a final 90 minutes.

Dimpling, topping and baking

1. Pre-heat a fan oven to 220ºC. Uncover your dough, it should have slightly increased in size, nearly filling up the baking dish. Use your fingers to ‘dimple’ up and down the dough a few times, pressing your fingertips into the dough and down to the base.

2. Pour over the oil with the garlic and rosemary and use your hands to spread this evenly over the focaccia top, continuing to use your fingers to create ‘dimples’. Finish with a generous sprinkling of flakey sea salt.

3. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes until the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and once cool enough to touch, transfer to a wire cooling rack.

4. Slice and serve straight away whilst still warm with another drizzle of olive oil on top or allow the focaccia to come to room temperature if you’re freezing it or serving it later.

Nutritional Information

(per slice)

248 calories

6g protein, 30g carbs, 11g fat

Good to know:

• Vegetarian, to make this vegan switch the honey to 2 tsp white sugar.
  

• Flour. You can use regular plain flour here, ‘strong white bread flour’ contains slightly more protein which gives breads and bakes a more fluffy, chewy texture. To make this gluten-free, use a GF bread flour.

• Yeast. Use quick yeast also called instant or easy-bake yeast. I prefer to buy these in sachets, which are usually 7g each. Yeast deactivates quite quickly so if you buy it in a bigger tub, you only have a couple of months to use it. Always check the use-by date on yeast as it’s shelf life is a lot shorter than other baking ingredients.
  

• Olive oil. As a predominant ingredient in focaccia, using a good quality olive oil makes a huge difference to the taste and flavour. It doesn’t have to be the most expensive in the shop but go for ones which are ‘extra virgin’ or ‘cold pressed’ and come in a dark glass bottle rather than plastic, which have a tendancy to go rancid quickly.

Toppings

• Use other herbs (fresh or dried), sundried tomatoes, sliced onion, olives or any type of cheese on top of your focaccia. Just make sure you cover any dry toppings in olive oil first to prevent them from burning in the oven.

Storage

• Focaccia is best eaten on the day it’s baked, served warm or at room temperature. But it can last for up to 3 days stored in an airtight container at room temperature (not in the fridge).

• This freezes incredibly well. Store as a whole loaf or individual slices, wrapping them tightly in cling film and then placing in an airtight container or large ziplock bag in the freezer for up to 3 months.

• To re-heat frozen focaccia, remove from the freezer and unwrap the cling film. Wrap in tin foil and bake in a preheated oven at 200ºC for 15 minutes (up to 30 minutes for larger slices or whole loaves). Unwrap the tin foil for the last 3 - 5 minutes to give it a crispy exterior.