Home-made focaccia straight out of the oven is irresistibly delicious - and simple to make.
Focaccia is such a versatile food. You can eat it plain just like bread or fill it Italian-style with prosciutto, mozzarella and ruggola, or cooked melanzane, anchovies and tomatoes. The choices are endlessI. Italian children on the way home from school like to grab a slice of focaccia from the local baker as their afternoon snack. Its very easy to make and will come out of your oven with all those wonderful fresh-bread aromas.
- Ingredients
- for a 30 x 40 cm focaccia you will need
- 500 gr OO flour ( or just sift plain flour)
- 7 gr ( 2 teaspoons) instant dried yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons virgin olive oil
- 2 cups warm water ( this is approximately add more or less water to get a smooth dough)
mix all the above ingredients and kneed until you will get a smooth, elastic dough
shape the dough into a ball, coat it with a few drops of olive oil so that it does not dry out
put the dough in a bowl, cover it wit a cloth and let it stand in warm place for at least 2 hours
the dough will double in size and become very airy (mine went crazy and produced a huge air bubble!)
heat the oven to 240 ˚
kneed the dough to get all the air out. You can now shape it or put aside until needed
oil a 40x30 cm oven tray and sprinkle with a little flour ( this will not let the dough slip when you spread it out on the tin)
spread out the dough to about 2 cm thickness and make indentations with your fingertips
in 1 tablespoon boiling water let some salt dissolve and paint the focaccia surface
pick some fresh rosemary and push little bunches into the indentations, sprinkle some olive oil over the whole focaccia
bake in the pre heated oven for about 10 -15 minutes or until golden
