Recipe: The Ultimate Focaccia

Method

Day 1 — Make the biga

1. Place the flour, water and crumbled yeast into a mixing bowl and combine briefly.
2. Leave covered with a clean cloth for 24 hours at a cool ambient temperature.

Day 2 — Make the foccacia

1. In a large bowl mix together the flour, biga, yeast and water. This only needs to be mixed briefly and not fully combined.
2. Leave in a bowl, covered with a tea towel for 1 hour to autolyse at room temperature.
3. After an hour dip your fingers into some water and loosen the dough from the sides of the bowl. 
4. Add the salt and mix for 3-4 minutes by hand in the bowl. This will involve using a mixing and stretching technique with your hand.
5. After about 3-4 minutes, add the oil and using the same technique mix again.
6. Transfer the dough to a clean bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave at a warm room temperature for another hour.
7. After this initial hour, complete 1 set of folds - do this by wetting your hands and then lifting and stretching the dough. 5-7 turns should be adequate.
8. Cover with a tea towel and - leave for another hour at room temperature. 
9. After the 2 hours proving mark, you will be ready to shape your dough.

‍While the dough is proving, make the infused rosemary oil‍

1. Combine the oil and rosemary in a small saucepan and warm gently for 1 minute.  Remove from the heat and leave to infuse for a couple of hours.   
2. You can use this to top your bread and use it as a dip when serving.

‍ Shaping the dough‍

1. Line a straight-sided roasting tin (approximately 20 or 22cm wide by 30cm in length) with baking parchment and lightly oil the paper with olive oil.
2. Oil your hands and the top of the dough, then swiftly and efficiently, lift the dough out and place it into the centre of the roasting tin.
3. Don’t at this stage try and push it into the edges of the tin. Using oiled hands again gently ensure the surface is covered in oil. If any dough isn’t covered in oil it will tear as you touch it. You want to avoid this if possible.
4. Cover with a tea towel and leave to prove somewhere ambient for 15 minutes.
5. Using oiled hands, prod the dough gently to push it out further towards the edge of the tray.
6. Leave for another 15 mins and then repeat until the dough fills the tin.
7. Drizzle with a little oil and then cover with a cloth and rest for 45 minutes by which point it will be ready for baking. You should notice some large bubbles on the surface and it should look pillowy.

 Baking the focaccia‍

1. Preheat the oven to 210°C fan-assisted oven (230°C conventional oven)
2. Your dough should now be aerated, puffy and pillowy. Drizzle a little more oil over the top of the bread, sprinkle with salt and some sprigs of rosemary.
3. As soon as the bread goes in, turn the oven down to 200°C fan-assisted oven (220°C conventional oven) and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden with a hollow sounding base. It is better to go on the look and feel rather than timing when baking your bread. You can lift the bread out of the tin, place it onto a wire rack and put it back in the oven for 3 to 5 minutes if need be.
4. Leave to cool on a wire rack. With a pastry brush, dab some more of the infused rosemary oil on top and sprinkle with coarse sea salt. 
5. Slice and serve with your infused rosemary oil and a last sprinkle of sea salt.

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