Homemade Focaccia

• Baking & Spices

  • 350 g Flour
  • 5 g Salt

• Oils & Vinegars

  • 20 g Olive oil

• Dairy

  • 50 g Parmesan cheese

• Liquids

  • 230 g Water

• Other

  • 20g yeast, fresh or non-instant

Found on acanadianfoodie.com

Description

Ingredients

• 50g Parmesan cheese
• 230g water
• 20g yeast, fresh or non-instant
• 5g salt (but I usually leave this out due to the Parmesan and the salt on top)
• 350g flour
• 20 g olive oil
• Fresh herbs: 3 generous tablespoons flat leafed parsley, finely chopped, tender stems included; 2 generous tablespoons sage leaves, finely chopped, stems removed; 1 generous tablespoon rosemary needles, finely chopped, stems removed
• Garnish: 1 tablespoon course sea salt; 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil; 1-2 sprigs of fresh rosemary needles, stems removed

Directions

• Prepare herbs; set aside
• Weigh Parmesan cheese in TM bowl; grate for 1 second on Turbo 3 times
• Weigh flour and yeast into TM bowl on top of cheese; mix to combine for 10 seconds, speed 3-4
• Weigh salt into TM bowl; mix to combine for 5 seconds, speed 3-4 (can leave it out as cheese is salty and there is salt on the crust, too)
• Weigh olive oil and tepid water into TM bowl; mix to combine for 15 seconds, speed 3-4 until ingredients clump together into a ball
• Set time to 2 minutes, temperature to 37 C, and speed on knead
• After one minute, put minced herbs into TM bowl through the hole in lid while still kneading
• Prepare 2.2 litre ThermoServer just before placing dough into it to proof by pouring boiling or hot water into its cavity, sit for 15 seconds, remove, dry completely and coat lightly with olive oil
• Dust hand lightly, but completely, with flour; remove dough from TM bowl with that hand (prevents sticking; so little flour is needed to prevent sticking) and place dough inside Server to proof OR
• Place a large glass of water in tmicrowave; heat for one minute to create warm humid environment to proof dough THEN
• Place dough into oiled bowl covered with a damp cloth and place in microwave with door closed to proof
• Proof dough 45 minutes or until double in size
• Pre-heat the oven to 350 F; cover baking sheet with parchment paper
• Once dough has doubled in size; gently loosen sides of dough working to not deflate any of the air
• Turn bowl of dough completely upside down in the middle of parchment paper on baking sheet (Plop!)
• Dock the surface of the dough with a docker or dimple it with your fingers (only about ¾ of the way into the dough with your docker or finger tips)
• Fill dimples with the 2 tablespoons of olive oil (approximately - drizzle over surface of dough)
• Sprinkle a generous amount of crystal sea salt (larger crystals) over surface (a touch more than you think would be needed as this is to be a salty crust)
• Add rosemary needles randomly over top in a rustic fashion, to garnish
• Bake 25 minutes; turn off oven; leave for 10 minutes
• If top is not golden, turn on grill for one minute, watching closely, and turning pan once during this time, to ensure even browning on the surface of the crust
• Rest crusty bread 20 minutes before slicing; serve with dipping oil or a mixture of oil and balsamic vinegar
• Get ready to hear a lot of lip smacking groans of pleasure
• Shred the Parmesan cheese: freshly grated cheese makes a big difference to the flavour of this bread
• Measure all other dry ingredients into a large bowl; sift through fingers to combine
• Measure liquid ingredients in another small pouring vessel and pour into the dry ingredient bowl along the sides; work to combine the moisture into the dry ingredients with your hands and fingers until the mixture begins to form a ball
• Add the herbs; continue to combine the ingredients into a ball
• When the dough comes together, begin to knead it, using only a lightly (lightly) floured surface and a bakers scraping spatula to assist with the kneading and counter cleaning (back into the dough) as you knead
• When you have kneaded the dough until elastic, coat a medium bowl with a little olive oil
• Place the dough into the olive oil bowl to proof (45 minutes to one hour); covered
• Pre-heat the oven to 350 F
• Cover baking sheet with parchment paper
• Carefully turn bowl of dough upside down on the baking sheet covered with the paper; do not deflate the dough
• Dock the surface of the dough
• Pour a good 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the surface of the dough, ensuring that lots stays inside of the little holes made by docking it with your fingers, or a docker
• Sprinkle a generous amount of crystal or large chunky sea salt over the surface (a touch more than you think would be needed)
• Add garnish: rosemary, sliced olives, sun-dried tomato chunks (whatever you like and whatever is in the bread)
• Bake for 25 minutes; turn off the oven and leave for 10 more minutes
• Rest crusty bread 20 minutes before slicing and serve with dipping oil or a mixture of oil and balsamic vinegar (get ready to hear a lot of lip smacking groans)