Focaccia

Tamara West

Focaccia makes a delicious snack, especially with pre-dinner drinks. Salty olives and other flavours sprinkled on top of the bread give it a certain lift. In this recipe herbs are mixed through the dough but you can just sprinkle them on top as a garnish if you prefer. See Celia Hay's guide to choosing flour for bread making here and her guide to kneading here.

Ingredients

2 tsp	Active dried yeast
3 Tbsp	Flour
50 ml	Water, warm
1 tsp	Salt
300 g	Flour (Main)
1 Tbsp	Rosemary, or thyme, chopped
200 ml	Water, warm
2 Tbsp	Olive oil

Topping

1 to brush	Olive oil
1 handful	Olives
1 sprinkle	Rock salt, or flaky sea salt
1 sprinkle	Thyme, or rosemary
1 handful	Goat's cheese, or feta

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 200C.
2. Whisk together the dried yeast, 3 Tbsp flour and 50ml warm water. Set aside to ferment until foamy.
3. Mix the salt into the second measure of flour and make a well in the centre.
4. Add the rosemary, warm water, olive oil and the yeast mixture. Using your fingertips or a wooden spoon, draw the wet ingredients together and combine with the flour to form a ball of dough.
5. Knead the dough well on a clean surface until smooth and elastic. Place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size.
6. Knock back. Shape and place on an oiled oven tray. Leave to prove until light and springy (approx 15 minutes).
7. Make indentations in the dough with your fingers. Brush with olive oil. Sprinkle your chosen topping (olives, cheese, herbs) and salt over the bread and bake for 15 minutes until browned, light and dry on the base. Cool on a wire rack.

More of Celia's bread recipes

• Basic bread dough
• Challah plaited bread