After several attempts using various recipes this is the most successful focaccia I've made, so far - I used several bits of different recipes in the end. The onion and thyme topping is optional - there are many other toppings you could use or simply sprinkle with olive oil and coarse sea salt. This recipe makes one bread using a tin approximately 15 x 20 cm.
Ingredients
Method
Ingredients
- 300g strong white bread flour
- 7g dried instant yeast
- 7g salt
- 30ml olive oil plus extra for the topping.
- Finely sliced red onions
- Dried thyme
- Coarse sea salt
Method
- Mix together the flour yeast, salt and olive oil with just enough lukewarm water to form a sticky dough.
- Start kneading by slapping and throwing the dough repeatedly onto a lightly oiled surface, The dough will stick to your fingers and the surface to start with but after a few minutes it will become smoother and more elastic. Avoid adding more flour.
- Continue kneading the dough until it is silky smooth. If you don’t wish to knead by hand, you can use a dough hook and food mixer.
- Place the dough in a lightly oiled square or rectangular container pushing it to the edges to fit. I used a square pie dish.
- Cover and leave to rise until doubled.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly oiled surface and flatten out slightly. Fold two sides in, one over the other and then flatten out the dough to the approximate shape of your baking tin.
- Place the dough in the baking tin and using your knuckles, push the dough to the edges, attempting to keep it the same thickness throughout.
- Cover and leave to double in size. Twice during this process, you will need to push the dough back into shape, using your knuckles. You should end up with a dough with lots of dimples and bumps.
- Heat the oven to 220 C.
- Mix the onions with olive oil and spread over the surface of the dough. Sprinkle with thyme and coarsely ground sea salt.
- Bake for 8 minutes and then lower the heat to 170 C and bake for 15 mins or until golden brown.
- Sprinkle with more olive oil before serving.
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