Focaccia

Focaccia

Rosemary, olives, and a nice salty topping - easy to make and so good!

If you make this, I think you will like it. I love the addition of olives, rosemary, and nice crunchy finishing salt. At Liz's house, Tommy made this great pasta dish, and I was craving anything Italian. So, I thought "Focaccia sounds good". I checked out some recipes, merged some ideas, and here is the resulting recipe. It turned out well!

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast

• 1 cup of warm water (~110 degrees F), divided

• 2 teaspoons sugar or honey

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil for the dough

• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil for brushing dough, pan, and drizzling

• 2 2/3 cups bread flour (310 grams) plus more for dusting surface

• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt for the dough

• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse sea salt (I used Spanish sea salt with herbs)

• 1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted and rough chop

• 2 teaspoons rosemary, rough chop

Directions:

• You will need 3 bowls and an 8X8 inch pan

• ·In a small bowl, combine yeast and 1/4 cup of warm water - let it sit for 10 minutes until the mixture starts to foam and smell yeasty. If it does not foam, your yeast is bad, so try again :)

• Once foamy, add the remaining warm water, olive oil, and sugar (or honey). Stir well until the sugar is dissolved.

• Now get a large bowl, add the salt and flour, and mix it well. Add the yeast mixture to the large bowl mixing until the liquid is incorporated.

• Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough, adding additional flour as necessary until the dough is smooth, soft, and not tacky. I kneaded the dough for about 10 minutes. I used quite a bit of additional flour to get the dough to this stage.

• Place the dough in an oiled medium-sized bowl. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size. This took about an hour when I did it.

• After the dough has risen, oil the 8x8 pan with olive oil. Transfer the dough to the pan and spread out the dough to fit the pan. Turn the dough over and drizzle the dough with a teaspoon of olive oil. Continue to stretch the dough to fit the pan. Then, using your fingers, push holes into the dough about 1 inch apart.

• Cover the dough with olives and rosemary. Cover the pan and let the dough rise until it has doubled in size. This took another hour when I did it.

• When the dough is about ready, preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.

• When the dough has risen, remove the cover, and brush the top of the dough with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. (This seems like a lot, but it comes out great!). Sprinkle the top of the dough with your finishing salt. Bake until the top of the loaf is golden brown (20 - 25 minutes).

• Remove from oven, let it cool slightly, slice, and eat it!