Leonarda's Focaccia
Learn how to make focaccia just like a real Italian from Puglia does with this easy recipe
Servings: 2 focaccia
Ingredients
- 500 g Flour
- 6 g dehydrated Yeast
- 20 g Potato Flakes
- 300 ml Water
- 10 g Salt 2 tsp
- 250 g Cherry tomatoes optional
- 2 - 3 tsp Oregano optional
- 100 g Olives optional
Instructions
Day 1
- Put the yeast, potato flakes and flour into the bowl of your standing mixture.
- Add the water and the salt.
- Knead for 5 minutes until the dough comes together. Add a little more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, if the dough seems dry and doesn't stick together well.
- Put the dough in a clean bowl lightly oiled with olive oil and cover the bowl with a lid or transparent film.
- Put in the fridge overnight.
Day 2
- Take the dough out of the fridge and leave on the bench for an hour to warm up.
- Oil two oven dishes with olive oil, or one cookie tray with This time, I used pie pans that were 25 cm in diametre, but you can make them square or rectangle, depending what you have in your cupboard.
- Cut the dough into two roughly equal portions. (Or leave in 1 piece for the cookie-tray)
- Gently push the dough with your fingers out into the shape you want it, turning it over every now and then. It should be about 1 - 1 1/2 cm ( about 1/2 an inch) high when you have finished.
- Put it in the pan you are using.
- Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and press gently them lightly into the dough at regular intervals. Sprinkle with oregano. Do the same for olives if you are using those, without the oregano.
- Cover with a teatowel and leave on the kitchen bench to rise for 2 - 3 hours until puffy.
- Heat the oven to 200°C (400°F).
- Sprinkle the focaccia with a few tablespoons of olive oil and splash with a 2 - 3 tsp water water (this helps a nice crust to form).
- Bake for about 20 -25 minutes, until the top is golden-brown and the tomatoes are slightly charred.
Notes
The focaccia is best eaten fresh on the day it is made, but if you have leftovers, keep them in an air-tight container. Before eating them, sprinkle them with water and put them in the oven at 200°C (400°F) for 5 - 10 minutes. It will come out as though it is freshly made!