Focaccia is the Italian flatbread that any home baker can make on a Saturday morning with no shaping, no kneading by hand, no scoring, no skill.
Why you are cooking this tonight
Focaccia is the Italian flatbread that any home baker can make on a Saturday morning with no shaping, no kneading by hand, no scoring, no skill. Mix, rise, dimple, oil, rosemary, salt, bake. Twenty-five minutes later you have a crackly golden flatbread that was drunk in olive oil and looks like it came from a proper Italian bakery.
High hydration is the whole game. The dough is wet (over seventy percent hydration) and lives in the tin for its final rise. You push your oiled fingertips down hard to make the dimples, which catch olive oil and salt and turn into crispy little craters. Rosemary and flaky sea salt on top.
Notes on method
Lukewarm water – body temperature. Instant yeast, not fresh. Time matters: an overnight cold ferment gives the best flavour but a 2-hour room-temp rise still works. Generous olive oil on the tin and on top.
What to pour with it
Tuscan olive oil for dipping. A glass of vermentino or a Dal Zotto prosecco. With a bowl of soup for lunch or next to a roast lamb for Sunday dinner.
Dal Zotto Pucino Prosecco NV
King Valley prosecco with the salt-and-rosemary top of fresh focaccia.
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The recipe
Ingredients
Method
- Mix flour, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Pour in water and olive oil. Mix with a spoon until no dry flour remains.
- Cover, rest 15 min. Wet your hand, do one round of stretch and folds. Repeat twice more at 15-min intervals.
- Cover and let rise at room temp 1.5 hours until puffy and doubled. (Alternatively: refrigerate overnight then return to room temp for 1 hour before shaping.)
- Generously oil a 23x33cm baking tray. Tip dough into the tray, turn to coat both sides in oil. Gently stretch to fill tray. Cover, rest 45 min.
- Preheat oven to 220°C fan-forced.
- Drizzle 2 tbsp olive oil on top. Using oiled fingertips, press down firmly through to the tin to create dimples all over.
- Scatter rosemary leaves and flaky salt across the top.
- Bake 20-25 minutes until deep golden. Cool in tin 10 min. Drizzle with extra olive oil. Cut into squares and serve warm.
Nutrition
Two things that go wrong
You under-hydrated the dough.
Focaccia needs to be wet, too wet to knead by hand. If your dough holds together in a tidy ball, you’ve got bread, not focaccia. Add another 30ml water and accept the mess.
You skipped the dimples or didn’t push hard enough.
Tentative dimples bake out smooth. The whole point of focaccia is the craters that catch olive oil and salt. Push your fingers all the way through to the tin and don’t apologise about it.
Variations worth knowing
Tomato and basil
Press halved cherry tomatoes into the dimples before baking. Scatter torn basil after it comes out of the oven.
Caramelised onion
Top with a layer of slow-cooked caramelised onions and grated parmesan before baking.
Garlic confit and chilli
Whole confit garlic cloves pushed into dimples, plus a sprinkle of dried chilli flakes.
Leftovers and make ahead
Day-two focaccia: split it horizontally and turn it into a sandwich with mortadella, fontina and rocket. Day-three: cube it, fry in olive oil, use as croutons in a tomato-and-basil bread soup. Don’t refrigerate, it kills the texture. Wrap in a tea towel on the bench.
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