For me, the greatest starter for any meal is bread and you can’t beat a freshly baked focaccia, especially when it’s loaded with toppings. I’ve given two options for toppings: delicious caramelised onions, which add beautifully flavoured dark flecks to the top of the dough, or simply stunning roasted tomatoes with garlic. Both give the focaccia sweetness, but with an acidic edge for balance.
Makes: 1 very large or 2 small loaves
Ingredients
- 500g strong white bread flour
- 400g water
- 5g fast-action dried yeast
- 10g fine sea salt
- 60ml extra virgin olive oil, plus more to oil a container, baking tray and your hands, and for drizzling
- Sea salt flakes
Steps
- Put all the flour and 350g of the measured water in a large bowl and mix together until combined. Cover and leave to autolyse for 1 hour. Autolyzing allows the flour time to fully hydrate, starts developing the gluten, and improves the smoothness, elasticity, and flavor of the dough.
- Mix the yeast in a small bowl with the remaining 50g of water, then pour this into the autolyzed dough. ‘Cut together’ with your fingers — squeezing the liquid into the dough with your hands — then add the fine salt and cut together again. Knead the dough for 5 minutes, then add the 60ml of olive oil, mixing until the dough is smooth.
- Prove in a warm place for 45 minutes (ideally at 79–83°F) in a well-oiled container with a lid.
- Stretch and fold the dough: lift an edge upwards and fold it into the centre, then turn the bowl 90° and repeat until you have worked all the way around.
- Cover and leave to prove for a further 45 minutes. Stretch and fold the dough a second time, then cover and prove for 1 hour.
- With oiled hands, transfer the dough to 1 large (52 × 43cm) or 2 smaller (32 × 22cm) oiled deep baking trays and cover with a larger tray. Leave for 30 minutes longer.
- Preheat the oven to 450°F / 480°F fan.
- Push your fingertips all over the dough to make the characteristic focaccia dimples. Drizzle generously with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt flakes, then bake for 20 minutes until golden. Remove from the tray and leave to cool on a wire rack.
