Italian · Breads

Focaccia

Claire Saffitz's focaccia: a very wet, well-kneaded dough baked in a half-sheet pan for a tall, airy crumb and a crisp, oily base. Pick a topping from the options after the method.

Serves
1
half-sheet pan
Prep3 hr 45 min (mostly rising)
Cook30 min
Vegetarian

Method

Dough
  1. In a small saucepan, gently warm the 113 g water over low heat, swirling, until lukewarm but not hot, about 40°C (105°F). Pour it into the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk in the yeast. Leave until cloudy and slightly puffed, about 5 minutes.
  2. Fit the dough hook. Add the 567 g room-temperature water, the flour and the salt. Mix on the lowest speed until a very loose dough comes together, about 1 minute, then on medium-high until smooth and wrapping around the hook, about 5 minutes.
  3. Turn off the mixer, cover the bowl with a damp towel and rest for 10 minutes. Mix again on medium-high until the dough is very smooth, extremely elastic and pulling away from the sides of the bowl, another 10–15 minutes. It will still be very sticky; don't add more flour.
  4. Pour 55 g (¼ cup) of the oil into a large bowl and swirl to coat. Scrape the dough into it and dab some of the pooling oil over the surface. Cover with a damp towel and leave at room temperature until doubled, 1–1½ hours.
  5. Drizzle the other 55 g (¼ cup) oil over a standard half-sheet pan and rub it over the base and sides.
  6. With oiled hands, loosen the dough from the sides of the bowl. Slide your hands down either side, lift it out and let its weight stretch it downwards, then let it fold back onto itself in the bowl. Turn the bowl 90 degrees and repeat. Do this twice more, putting the dough onto the oiled pan after the last stretch.
  7. Stretch the dough towards the edges until it springs back, cover with an oiled sheet of plastic wrap and rest for 15 minutes. Then stretch it right into the corners so it fills the pan, and cover again.
  8. At this point the dough can go in the fridge for up to 24 hours; it should nearly double there (if not, leave it at room temperature until it does). To bake straight away, leave it at room temperature until nearly doubled and close to the top of the pan, another 40–55 minutes. Prepare your topping while it rises.
Bake
  1. Put oven racks in the highest and lowest positions and preheat the oven to 230°C (450°F / gas 8).
  2. Uncover the dough. With oiled hands and fingers spread wide, press your fingertips down through the dough to the bottom of the pan, dimpling the whole surface.
  3. Add your topping's "before baking" step.
  4. Bake on the lower rack until the corners pull away from the pan, 20–25 minutes.
  5. Move to the top rack and bake until the top is very well browned, about 5 minutes more (add any "last 5 minutes" topping now).
  6. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then loosen the base and sides with a thin spatula and cool completely on a wire rack.

Topping options

Rosemary and flaky salt
  • 55 g (¼ cup) extra-virgin olive oil
  • Fresh rosemary leaves
  • Flaky salt
  1. Before baking: drizzle the dimpled dough with the olive oil and sprinkle generously with flaky salt and rosemary.
Garlic
  • 55 g (¼ cup) extra-virgin olive oil
  • 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • Flaky salt
  1. While the dough rises: warm the oil and garlic in a small saucepan over low heat for 3–4 minutes, until fragrant but not coloured. Let it cool.
  2. Before baking: spoon the oil and garlic over the dimpled dough, pressing the slices into the dimples so they sit under the oil and don't scorch. Sprinkle with flaky salt.
Chilli garlic
  • 55 g (¼ cup) extra-virgin olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1–2 tsp chilli flakes
  • Flaky salt
  1. While the dough rises: warm the oil, garlic and chilli flakes in a small saucepan over low heat for 2–3 minutes, until fragrant but not coloured. Let it cool.
  2. Before baking: spoon the chilli garlic oil over the dimpled dough, working it into the dimples, and sprinkle with flaky salt.
Sichuan pepper oil and soy caramelised onions
  • 60 ml (¼ cup) olive oil
  • 1½ tbsp Sichuan peppercorns
  • ½ tbsp black peppercorns
  • ½ tbsp white peppercorns
  • 2 large onions, halved and sliced into thin rings
  • 60 ml (4 tbsp) vegetable oil
  • ½ tbsp sugar, more to taste
  • 30 ml (2 tbsp) soy sauce
  1. Pepper oil: grind all the peppercorns to a fine powder in a mortar and pestle. Sift through a sieve, grind the larger bits left behind again and sift, repeating until it's all fine. Mix with the olive oil and set aside.
  2. Onions: heat the vegetable oil in a medium-large frying pan over medium-high heat until hot. Fry the onions for 2–3 minutes, then turn the heat down to medium-low and keep frying until browned, caramelised and soft, about 20–25 minutes. Lower the heat if they start to burn.
  3. Add the soy sauce and sugar to the onions and cook for another 5 minutes. Taste and adjust. They keep in the fridge for about a week.
  4. Before baking: drizzle the pepper oil over the dimpled dough and dimple it in.
  5. Last 5 minutes: spread the onions in an even layer over the top.

From our kitchen

How we make it

  1. Toppings are separate options so the base focaccia stays plain. The Sichuan pepper oil and soy caramelised onions are our go-to alternative to garlic, rosemary or chilli garlic.

  2. Added garlic and chilli garlic options. Their amounts are a starting point we haven't measured yet: adjust after the next bake.

  3. We measure 2 tbsp of table salt (about 36 g). The original's 17 g matches 2 tbsp of Diamond Crystal kosher salt, which is about half as dense.

Based on thecookingworld.com