Foccacia is one of those fabled breads that has a reputation of being unachievable at home. That, however, could not be further from the truth. In all honesty, this is probably one of the easiest and most forgiving breads to make at home. Making this even better, it is endlessly customisable with toppings, seasonings and flavours!

Whether it’s to have alongside some pasta and wine at dinner, sliced and filled to the brim with sliced meat and cheese or even to just dip in some oil and balsamic, this Italian staple is a must bake! 

Ingredients

For the dough -

250 g active (fed) sourdough starter

400 ml lukewarm water (50 ml set aside)

650 g strong white bread flour (or ’00’ flour for a more traditional result)

100 g olive oil, plus a little extra for the pan

2 tbs salt

2 tbs honey

1 tbs instant dry yeast

For the olive oil seasoning - 

250 ml good quality extra virgin olive oil 

4 large garlic cloves, peeled (optional)

1 to 2 tbs flakey sea salt crystals (Maldon Salt is best) 

Toppings (optional)

• 2 to 3 large stems of fresh rosemary, stem removed

• 200 g (approx) cherry tomatoes, halved

Method 

1 - 

Begin by adding your dry yeast and honey to the 50 ml lukewarm water that was reserved. Set this to one side to activate and become foamy. 

2 - 

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, sourdough starter and the remaining 350 ml of your water. Mix this on a low speed until a shaggy dough forms. Once the dough has come together, add your salt, yeast/water mixture and knead on medium low speed for 10 minutes. When finished, turn your mixer to low and slowly stream in 100 ml of olive oil. Once added, knead again on medium speed for another 10 minutes. At this point, you should have a very elastic and slightly sticky dough. 

If working by hand, you can add all the liquids at the start but I would suggest lowering the total quantity of water to 350 ml, rather than 400 ml, to make kneading easier. An alternative way to make the kneading process easier is to mix all of the liquids in at the start and leaving your mixture to autolyse for 30 to 60 minutes.

3 - 

Once the kneading has finished you should be left with a very bouncy and elastic dough. Transfer this to an oiled bowl and cover with oiled clingfilm and place it in the fridge overnight to ferment and rise. You can also make this more ahead of time and leave it in the fridge for up to 3 days. Do ensure that the bowl is big enough and wrapped tightly enough as the dough will rise significantly. 

When ready to bake -

4 - 

Remove the dough from the fridge and allow for it to come to room temperature (30 to 60 mins depending on the temperature of the room). Preheat your oven to 220 deg C one hour before baking to ensure it is ripping hot. If you have a baking/pizza stone, this helps too to make sure the bread crisps up.

5 - 

Whilst the dough is thawing, you can now, if you want, make the garlic seasoning oil. If you do not want the focaccia flavoured with garlic, skip this step. 

Peel and bash your garlic cloves with the back of a knife to partially crush them and add these to a saucepan containing 250 ml of olive oil. For a stronger flavour, slice the cloves into thin slices. Gently bring the garlic/oil mix to a bare simmer on a low heat - the garlic should not fry but gently warm with the oil and flavour it. Let the oil and garlic heat together for 5 mins, stirring occasionally, and ensuring the garlic does not darken or burn. Once the oil and the garlic are fragrant, remove from the heat and allow to cool fully. Once cool, remove the garlic cloves/slices and set the oil aside to use later. 

6 - 

Generously oil a large shallow sided baking sheet with olive oil (use the garlic oil if you made this) and sprinkle generously with flaky salt. Transfer your dough to the sheet and gently stretch it to fill the sheet. If the dough refuses to stretch, cover and wait a further 15 mins before trying again. Once stretched to fill the sheet, liberally oil the surface, cover with oiled plastic wrap and set aside to rise for a further 2 to 3 hours, until large bubbles form and its doubled in size.

7 - 

Once the dough has risen, dimple it all over with your fingers, creating pits all over the dough. Be careful not to fully deflate the dough. Evenly cover with your halved tomatoes, leaving plenty of room between for maximum crust potential. Sprinkle the dough with your fresh rosemary and then generously cover with the remaining oil (garlic oil if using) so that it totally covers and fills all those little pits you created with your fingers. Sprinkle generously with flaky salt. 

8 - 

Bake in your preheated oven for 20 to 30 mins until golden brown and crispy. Extend the baking time if for some reason the bread isn’t fully cooked. Remove to cool for 10 mins then transfer to a wire rack to cool. 

The bread is best served warm from the oven but can be stored for 3 to 4 days in an airtight container and refreshed in a toaster or baked briefly in a steamy oven. 

Tips and Troubleshooting 

• This bread is very customisable - you can top it with tomatoes, olives, change up the herbs, or toast spices in the oil and season with that. Chilli oil is a good shout too! Even plain, this is completely irresistible!

• Make sure when storing the dough that all surfaces are oiled as it will stick. Oiling the plastic wrap is essential. You’ll thank me later!

• The longer this dough ferments in the fridge, the better it will taste. If you are patient, leaving it the full 3 days will result in an amazing bubbly and flavourful bread that you will have to try hard not to eat all in one sitting.

• You can half this recipe if you do not want to make a large sheet or you can split the dough and bake them off separately with different toppings should you wish.