Focaccia

One of my most essential dishes. It's as comforting as a birthday cake. Relatively easy to make, diverse as the colours of the rainbow, and totally worth the effort. A great playground to practice my optimized kneading techniques, and with the olive oil incorporated, it's a much easier dough to knead. You can’t forget making it, you can’t forget eating it. Guaranteed!

Ingredients

For the Dough

  • 00 Flour Fine Italian flour 500 g
  • Water Mineral (300 + 15 + 15 ml) 330 g
  • Dry Yeast Or 15 g fresh yeast 7 g
  • Honey Real flowers 4 g
  • Salt Pink Himalayan rock salt 4 g
  • Olive Oil Extra Virgin 10 g

For the Toppings

  • Rock Salt Atlantic, coarse to taste
  • Fresh Rosemary Leaves a few sprigs
  • Fresh Thyme Leaves a few sprigs
  • Cherry Tomatoes Sliced 2–3 mm 8 units
  • Purple Onion Thinly sliced 3–4 mm 1 unit
  • Semolina For dusting the tray as needed
  • Balsamic Vinegar For serving to taste

Tools

  • Mixing Bowl Stainless Steel, 30 cm
  • Dutch Whisk One Eye
  • Cotton Towel Tea Towel
  • Hand Sprayer Food Grade
  • Oven Tray Steel, 35×25 cm
  • Kitchen Brush Silicone
  • Dough Scraper Plastic, Rounded
  • Baking Stone 40×35 cm
  • Bread Rack Cooling Rack
  • Kitchen Scale 1 g – 5 kg
  • Small Bowl Utility Bowl

Instructions

        I — Autolease:
            Mix flour and 300 ml water with a Danish whisk until no dry flour remains. Rest.

            II — Yeast Resurrection:
            Mix honey with 15 ml warm water (30–35°C). Let it foam 5–8 minutes.
            In another bowl, dissolve salt in 15 ml boiling water.

            III — Yeast Incorporation:
            Drip yeast foam onto dough (2–3 tsp). Press in with fingers.
            Stretch and fold the dough from four sides. Repeat with more yeast foam until incorporated.
            Wet hands frequently to prevent sticking.

            "IV — Salt Incorporation:\n"
            "Drip the salt water into the dough using the same stretch‑and‑fold technique.\n\n"

            "V — Adding Oil:\n"
            "Pour olive oil and mix for 10 minutes.\n\n"

            "VI — Kneading:\n"
            "Use stretch‑and‑fold and slap‑and‑fold techniques for 5 minutes.\n"
            "Let dough rest briefly between sets.\n\n"

            "VII — First Rise:\n"
            "Shape into a ball with 8 folds. Place upside‑down in bowl. Cover and rise 40 minutes.\n\n"

            "VIII — Prepare Tray:\n"
            "Brush tray with olive oil and dust lightly with semolina.\n\n"

            "IX — Prepare Dough on Tray:\n"
            "Flip dough onto tray and gently stretch to edges without tearing.\n\n"

            "X — Toppings:\n"
            "Drizzle olive oil. Add tomatoes, onions, rosemary, thyme, and coarse salt.\n\n"

            "XI — Second Proof:\n"
            "Cover and proof 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 200°C.\n\n"

            "XII — Baking:\n"
            "Bake 20–25 minutes until lightly golden. Rotate tray after 12 minutes.\n"
            "Cool on bread rack at least 30 minutes.\n\n"

            "Serving:\n"
            "Cut into rectangles. Dip in olive oil and balsamic vinegar."

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