Ingredients
Basic Dough
- 2 1/2 tsp active dried yeast
- 1 3/4 cup warm water
- 2 tsp sugar
- 5 cups flour (3 All Purpose, 2 Wholemeal)
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
Foccacia Dressing
- 2-3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil for the pan (optional extra for drizzling)
- 1/4 - 1/2 cup warm water
- 2-4 tsp salt for brine
Optional Flavour Additives
- 1 cup pitted Kalamata olives, rinsed and drained
- Fresh coarsely chopped rosemary leaves for topping or 1-2 tsp dried worked into dough...
Instructions
Yeast Preparation
- Combine the yeast, water and sugar in a bowl and let it sit in a warm place for about 15 minutes until frothy.
Dough Generation
- In a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the flour, salt, olive oil and yeast mixture on low speed until the dough comes together, (add the dried rosemary if using)
- Increase to medium speed and continue to knead for another 5-7 minutes until the texture becomes smooth and soft. If the dough is too sticky add a little more flour.
- Remove the dough, spray the mixer bowl with olive oil, return the dough, cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap (or a clean kitchen cloth) and put it in a warm, draft-free place to rise for at least 1 hour or until doubled in size.
- Coat a standard 20 x 30cm baking tray/dish with the 1/4 cup of olive oil. Place the dough on the sheet pan, pulling and pressing it with your hands to spread it across to fit the size of the pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for another 60 minutes or until doubled in size. Towards the end, preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius.
Brine and Bake
- Combine warm water and salt to form a brine, (if your bread is not super fluffy or struggled to rise consider the 1/2 cup, also scale salt to taste.)
- Use your fingertips to press lots of deep dimples into the dough then drizzle generously with the brine, letting the liquid pool in the dimples.
- If using - Place the olives throughout some of the dimples, sprinkle generously with rosemary leaves and a few rosemary sprig tips.
- If desired - add a little extra olive oil drizzle over the bread before baking.
- Bake on the middle shelf for 15-20 minutes or until the top is light golden brown. Let it cool for a couple of minutes before slicing into squares. Best served immediately while the crust is still warm and crispy.
Notes
- This is a lot of bread, like we have leftovers when we take it to a 14 person family get together...
- I use a ceramic baking dish rather than a tray, the kind non-vegans use for a roast, i find the bread gets a little taller, but i've never had any complaints.
- I tend to use a mix of plain and wholemeal flour because i like the crabs i consume to taste of something... you do you.
- you can flavour this however you want, or not at all, the salt from the brine will do a good chunk of the work.
- Original recipe doesn't have a brine, it just adds extra oil.
- The Brine - I watched 'Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat', basically while not following all the directions they gave i added the brine to an existing bread recipe. I find the dough to be really temperamental, sometimes it rises really well, sometimes regardless it under-performs. The brine ensures the dough has enough moisture to keep it soft without being oil soaked and gives it an extra chance to make the good bubbles... Also, because of my wholemeal addition, seems to need more liquid...
- Also you can split the dough in two and use a regular round spring form pan if you want, flavour them differently or just make half as much for a few friends.
- you can use whatever you want to flavour this, cherry tomatoes, antipasto bits... I've used green olives marinated in garlic and lemon, I added some garlic granules to the dough, along with some grated lemon rind and brushed some of the marinating liquid over the top instead of olive oil... Use what you have, what you like :)