Focaccia. It’s hard not to love it. Whether it’s the saltiness, the olive oil or the crispy crust, Focaccia can be put to use in so many ways. With this recipe, however, the bread 100% stands on its own.
This is roughly based on an AMT recipe, and please note it needs about 4 hours of mostly non-involved prep time.
What you’ll need
- 390 grams (2.5 cups) bread flour
- 1.5 – 2t instant yeast
- 2t sugar
- 340ml (1.5 cups) room-temperature water
- 6T extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 2t table salt
- About 1t flaky sea salt
What to do
Whisk together the flour, sugar and yeast in a large bowl. Add the water and 2T of the olive oil and carefully stir until all the dry ingredients are incorporated. Cover and let stand for 20 minutes.
Sprinkle the table salt over the dough and mix the dough with wet hands (it will be really sticky) until the salt is fully distributed throughout.
This part sucks but it’s necessary: keeping your hands wet, pull one edge of the dough and stretch it upward, folding it over the dough at the opposing side of the bowl (basically, up and over). Turn the bowl 90 degrees and pull, lift and fold. Do this about 30 times, turning the bowl 90 degrees each time. The dough should start to become firmer and smoother. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes.
Spray the bottom and sides of a 13” x 9” (a different shape of the same number of square inches is OK) sheet pan, then take a piece of parchment paper 3 inches larger than the length and width of your pan and press it into the sheet pan. Smooth it over the bottom and sides—cut a slit at the corners if you like. Evenly spread 3T of olive oil across the bottom.
Now for the last major interaction with the dough: dampen your worksurface and hands with water and turn the dough onto the worksurface. Gently stretch and press the dough into a 15” x 10” rectangle. Fold it into thirds like a business letter and flip it over into the sheet pan. Move it around to coat the bottom with oil. Flip it back over and press out any air pockets with your fingers. Cover and let it sit for about 3 hours. The dough is ready when it’s puffy and has extended to the corners of the sheet pan.
About 20 minutes before the dough should be done rising, begin heating your oven to 475 degrees F with one of the racks in the middle position.
Right before putting it in the oven, drizzle one last tablespoon of olive oil over the top of the dough and press dimples with your fingers all across the top. Break up any bubbles you may see. Sprinkle the top with a bit of sea salt and bake it in the oven until it’s a deep brown.
When it’s done, transfer the focaccia to a rack to cool before serving.
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