Why should you be making focaccia? Well, it’s a perfect accompaniment for soups, and one of the easiest less fussiest bread to make which deems it perfect for those days you have guests coming over and you want to wow them with homemade bread. And of course, it makes an amazing sandwich, beach anyone? Oh and there’s that idly satisfying feeling when making dimples on the focaccia.
This is a simple recipe that does not require a stand mixer, just a pull here – fold there, and boom! In this post, I will share with you a plain focaccia recipe as well as how to make focaccia with rosemary-infused oil and how to make focaccia with black olives.
But don’t let this bread fool you, she isn’t as healthy as she seems. Why? Because some focaccia recipes, that are so unbelievably soft, springy, and airy might have bucketloads of olive oil. Lucky for you this recipe doesn’t 🙂.
With most of us in lockdown, it seems the food industry has seen a negative shakeup with regard to people losing jobs. But it has also seen a positive shift with regard to creativity, Is anyone as obsessed as I am about the beautiful garden focaccia?
What’s the Difference Between Focaccia and Pizza?
The difference between focaccia and pizza is a long-standing battle that I will humbly sit out. Let’s start off with the dough, shall we? For some, the height is the differentiating factor with the focaccia being thicker than the pizza. But this is highly debatable because I have seen pizzas that are heights thicker than your Neapolitan pizza. So, does that make it a ‘focapizza’ (focaccia and pizza hybrid)? I should coin that term 🙂
While we are still on the dough, pizza doesn’t have anything kneaded into the dough while focaccia is well known for knead-ins such as olives and sundried tomatoes. I am inclined to agree with this.
Then there is the oil content: the argument is that less oil is used when making pizza than its counterpart. Do I agree? I think this is highly relative because it depends on the focaccia texture one is aiming for.
And this finally brings us to the toppings. Apparently, the moment cheese features on a focaccia topping is when it seizes to be and becomes a pizza.
I know many of us would eat a cold pizza any day. Would you eat a focaccia hot out of the oven? Probably. So what does this have to do with differentiating the two? Well, apparently focaccia is best served cold while pizza should be eaten while hot.
Folding the Dough
This dough does not need to be kneaded. Folding is as simple as pulling the dough and folding it over itself, rotating the bowl, and repeating until all corners of the dough have been folded or the recommended number of folds reached.
How to Fold the Focaccia Dough
TIP/IDEAS
The main recipe (located way down) is for plain focaccia which yields 2 flatbreads. You can opt to use the same recipe to make either: plain, with rosemary, or focaccia with olives kneaded in.
Rotate the baking tray halfway through baking. This ensures even browning because there are oven hotspots.
Make sure to always cover the dough with cling film even after shipping to avoid drying
Add enough oil to the base of the baking tray or tin before tipping the dough onto it for the rise. This is because if you do not add enough oil the focaccia will stick to the baking tray/tin after baking.
How to Make Focaccia With Black Olives.
If you just want to make 1 focaccia with olives folded in then use this recipe. The following recipe will yield one small flatbread.
230g flour
155 ml warm water
7g instant yeast
30g (10) pitted black olives
25ml olive oil
1/4 tsp sea salt
Stir the yeast into the flour. If using active dry yeast, make sure to activate it in the warm water before adding it to the flour
Make a well in the middle of the flour, add the salt to one side and pour in the lukewarm water and 3/4 of the olive oil (the rest will be used during folding)
Make a shaggy dough and leave to sit for 15 minutes covered.
After 15 minutes, lightly wet your hands with olive oil. Stretch and spread the dough on the bowl, forming a well then scatter the sliced olives across the dough. Fold the dough to keep the olives tucked in and wait another 15 minutes before performing 8 folds then cover and leave to sit for 20 minutes.
Perform 6 folds this time and again let the dough rest covered with cling film to rise for 1-1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size in a clean lightly oiled bowl covered with cling film.
Oil a round 8-inch cake tin with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Then very gently tip the dough onto the tin with your fingertips, spread the dough to the corners of the baking tray. Make indentations across the dough, put some sliced olives in the indentations then cover, and leave to rise until doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 250°C as you prepare the brine by mixing 2 tablespoons of olive oil and water.
When the dough has doubled in size, drizzle at least 2 tablespoons of the brine evenly over the dough. Wet your hands with some olive oil and carefully make a few more indentations across the bread. (this step is optional)
Bake the focaccia for 15 minutes on the second last oven rack. Rotate the baking tray halfway for even browning.
Let cool and serve
How to Make Rosemary Infused Olive Oil
1. Measure 100ml of olive oil into a heavy-bottomed stainless steel pan.
2. Add two whole (peeled) cloves of garlic and 1 tbsp of rosemary sprigs into the oil.
3. Set the pan over medium heat for 4 minutes or until the oil is warm. Take it off the fire to infuse further as it cools then store it in the fridge.
How to Make Focaccia With Rosemary
Using Rosemary-Infused Oil
Make the infused oil at least an hour before you intend to prepare the dough, even better is to prepare it the night before.
Use 3/4 of the total oil in the recipe using the infused oil and the rest can be plain olive oil.
Proceed with the recipe below as if making plain focaccia. However, you would use rosemary-infused oil instead of plain olive oil. For an even more intense rosemary flavor, you could pin some sprigs onto the dough before letting it double in size (during the second (final) rising).
Without Rosemary Sprigs
To make this dough without infused oil, follow the recipe below. But snip and pin some sprigs onto the dough before you leave it to rise until doubled in size in the baking pan.
Take them out before serving and put some fresh sprigs for presentation.
Please give the no-knead focaccia recipe a thumbs up below.
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Simple olive oil focaccia recipe
(+5 rating, 1 votes)
Loading...An authentic Italian simple flatbread with no kneading required.
Ingredients
- 400g bread flour
- 9g active yeast
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 25 ml olive oil
- 250ml lukewarm water
Instructions
Stir the yeast to the lukewarm and leave to activate for 5 minutes
Make a well in the flour, add the salt to one side and pour the yeast and olive oil in the 'well'.
Slowly incorporate the flour, ending with the part with the salt. Form into a shaggy dough and let it stand for 15 minutes covered with the cling film.
After 15 minutes, lightly wet your hands with olive oil and perform 8 folds then cover and leave to sit for 20 minutes. Perform 6 folds this time and again let the dough rest covered with cling film for 20 minutes.
This recipe makes 2 batches. Divide the dough into two equal weights using a dough scraper. Perform 4 folds on each dough and let them rise for 1-1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size in clean lightly oiled bowls covered with cling film.
Oil two 8-inch baking tray with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil each. Very gently tip the dough into each one and with your fingertips, spread the dough to the corners of the baking tray. Make indentations across the dough, cover, and leave to rise until doubled in size. If you prefer you can just make one big focaccia using an 11x7-inch rectangular baking tray.
Preheat the oven to 250°C as you prepare the brine by mixing 4 tablespoons of olive oil and water.
When the dough has doubled in size, drizzle at least 2 tablespoons of the brine over each dough. Wet your hands with some olive oil and carefully make a few more indentations across the bread (optional).
Bake the focaccia for 15 minutes on the second oven rack from the bottom. Rotate the baking tray halfway for even browning.
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