Rosemary and Sea Salt Focaccia
A fluffy on the inside, crunchy on the outside rosemary and sea salt focaccia recipe tastes great and is soooo easy to make! You can make it into 4 loaves (use strips of baking paper to separate them in a large baking tin). You can also make 2 loaves using two slice tins 28cm x 18cm. Store cooled foccacia in a plastic zip lock bag in the fridge for up to 5 days. Otherwise freeze.
Servings: 4 loaves
Ingredients
- 600 ml luke warm water
- 25 g honey
- 25 g fresh yeast or 7g instant yeast
- 900 g plain flour
- 25 g table salt
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/2 bunch rosemary
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil // or first pressings extra virgin olive oil
- sea salt to finish
Instructions
To make the focaccia dough
- In a large jug mix together the water, honey and yeast until dissolved. Set aside for a minute. Meanwhile, sift flour into a large bowl and mix in the salt. Make a well in the centre. Add the yeast mixture.
- Working with your fingers, start to incoraporate the flour, a little at a time until the dough is formed.
- Knead the dough for about 5 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. Form the dough into a ball shape. Rub 1 tablespoon of oil into the surface of the dough - this will stop it from drying out. Cover the bowl with cling film.
First rising
- Let the dough sit in a warm spot for about 1 hour or until it has roughly doubled in size.
To make the herb oil
- Place garlic, pinch of sea salt and 1-2 sprigs of rosemary, leaves only, into a mortar and pestle. Pound until the herbs and garlic are well crushed. Add the remaining oil and set aside for the oil to infuse.
Second rising in the form
- Lightly grease your form(s) with extra oil. Once the dough has about doubled in size, knead it one more time but only for about 1 minute - you don't want to overwork the dough as the bread will become hard. Cut dough in half, form a ball or a log and roll out on flouur dusted bench to fit your baking tray(s).
- Drizzle a tablespoon of oil over the bread and cover with cling film. Allow to rise again for 30-45 minutes in a warm spot.
To bake
- Preheat oven to 180C (160C fan-forced, 350F, gas mark 4).
- Pour herb oil all over your bread(s), spreading herbs evenly. Push your fingers into the dough, about 3-4 cm apart as this is what will give the dough its characteristic 'dimples'. Spray the bread with water - this stops the herbs from burning. Sprinkle with sea salt.
- Bake for 35 minutes.
To serve
- When ready, remove bread from oven and place on a cooling rack to stop it from steaming in the tray. Drizzle the focaccia with a little more oil and enjoy!
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