Recipe focaccia

[Wandering Bob]

I mentioned in the recent thread on herb flatbreads that I have been trying (and consistently failing) to replicate the focaccia that I used to buy from Fratelli Camisa in London 35 years ago. Having experimented recently with sloppy wet doughs, and having also seen Paul Hollywood's recipe for focaccia, I decided to have another go at making it this morning.

As a first attempt, I'm quite pleased with the outcome. I already have more ideas as to how to improve on it - and I welcome suggestions by other members. Perhaps @MypinchofItaly could comment on its authenticity too?

I used:

350g of strong white bread flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
5g of dried active yeast
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
1/2 tablespoon of olive oil

Method:

Put the flour, salt, sugar and dried active yeast into a large mixing bowl.

Add the olive oil and then start to stir warm water into the dough. Keep going until it becomes fairly sloppy. Then pick the dough up (pull it together with your fingers) and slap it back into the mixing bowl. It's an unworkable dough but slapping it about at least redistributes the yeast and starts the glutens. Resist the urge to add any bench flour. Cover it and leave it somewhere warm until it has doubled in size (around 90 minutes).

Warm a 30cm circular baking tray. Carefully transfer the dough onto the baking tray (do not knock it down). Push the dough towards the sides of the baking tray. Cover the tray and leave it somewhere warm for another hour.

Preheat the oven to 220C

Using your fingers, make big dimples in the dough and scatter it with coarse sea salt.

Cook the focaccia for around 15 minutes at 220C. Then take it out of the oven and let it cool on a wire rack.

It's quite a dry focaccia as I deliberately avoided using much olive oil in the recipe. As soon as it was cool enough to cut, I sliced a quarter out of it, and then cut that in half horizontally. I drizzled a good EVOO over it, a little more salt, and ate it with fresh tomatoes and some ripe Brie.

Considering the minimal amount of effort that went into preparing this, I think I could make one of these almost every time I know that I'm going to switch the oven on.

 

[Morning Glory]

Its looking good - maybe a little more oil drizzled before baking would be more authentic? It would be interesting to hear from @MypinchofItaly on this.

 

[medtran49]

I have a book on nothing but focaccia that I've used for years and there is usually enough oil used to pool in the indentations.

 

[Morning Glory]

I have a book on nothing but focaccia that I've used for years and there is usually enough oil used to pool in the indentations.

Yeah... that is what I thought. Do you mean added before baking?

 

[Morning Glory]

I have a book on nothing but focaccia

Blimey! Is it variations on flavourings or lots of different recipes for the dough and the method? I can't imagine a whole book dedicated to it!

 

[MypinchofItaly]

Hi @Wandering Bob,
Your focaccia looks very good! I usually use lukewarm water or room water instead warm water and for the yeast, I prefer the little yeast cube (to melt in water or milk) even if sometimes I use the dried one. Evoo: it's fundamental for Italian focaccia. We grease both baking tray and the dough. Flour: What do you mean with strong? 00? Usually se tend to use 0 flour (tender wheat).
Anyway, your is very similar as method and I'm rather sure is scrummy!
As soon as I come back to Milano, I'll post two my recipes of focaccia

I mentioned in the recent thread on herb flatbreads that I have been trying (and consistently failing) to replicate the focaccia that I used to buy from Fratelli Camisa in London 35 years ago. Having experimented recently with sloppy wet doughs, and having also seen Paul Hollywood's recipe for focaccia, I decided to have another go at making it this morning.

As a first attempt, I'm quite pleased with the outcome. I already have more ideas as to how to improve on it - and I welcome suggestions by other members. Perhaps @MypinchofItaly could comment on its authenticity too?

I used:

350g of strong white bread flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
5g of dried active yeast
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
1/2 tablespoon of olive oil

Method:

Put the flour, salt, sugar and dried active yeast into a large mixing bowl.

Add the olive oil and then start to stir warm water into the dough. Keep going until it becomes fairly sloppy. Then pick the dough up (pull it together with your fingers) and slap it back into the mixing bowl. It's an unworkable dough but slapping it about at least redistributes the yeast and starts the glutens. Resist the urge to add any bench flour. Cover it and leave it somewhere warm until it has doubled in size (around 90 minutes).

Warm a 30cm circular baking tray. Carefully transfer the dough onto the baking tray (do not knock it down). Push the dough towards the sides of the baking tray. Cover the tray and leave it somewhere warm for another hour.

Preheat the oven to 220C

Using your fingers, make big dimples in the dough and scatter it with coarse sea salt.

Cook the focaccia for around 15 minutes at 220C. Then take it out of the oven and let it cool on a wire rack.

It's quite a dry focaccia as I deliberately avoided using much olive oil in the recipe. As soon as it was cool enough to cut, I sliced a quarter out of it, and then cut that in half horizontally. I drizzled a good EVOO over it, a little more salt, and ate it with fresh tomatoes and some ripe Brie.

Considering the minimal amount of effort that went into preparing this, I think I could make one of these almost every time I know that I'm going to switch the oven on.

View attachment 17920 View attachment 17921 View attachment 17922 View attachment 17923

 

[Wandering Bob]

Hi @Wandering Bob,
Your focaccia looks very good! I usually use lukewarm water or room water instead warm water and for the yeast, I prefer the little yeast cube (to melt in water or milk) even if sometimes I use the dried one. Evoo: it's fundamental for Italian focaccia. We grease both baking tray and the dough. Flour: What do you mean with strong? 00? Usually se tend to use 0 flour (tender wheat).
Anyway, your is very similar as method and I'm rather sure is scrummy!
As soon as I come back to Milano, I'll post two my recipes of focaccia

Buon giorno @MypinchofItaly

Molto gentile - grazie-lei !

I was trialling two new techniques with this focaccia - no knead, and no knock-down. I didn't want to complicate matters further by incorporating a lot of EVOO - as I said, the focaccia was intentionally 'dry'. For my next focaccia - probably on Thursday - I will oil the tray. I have found in the past that storing 'oily' bread can be difficult - but as yesterday's focaccia has already been eaten, maybe it won't be a problem! Introducing my French neighbours to a focaccia that hasn't been drenched in olive oil gave me (and them) a lot of pleasure.

No - I don't think strong white bread flour is tipo 00 (I used that to make pasta, I think - it would be too fine for focaccia). Probably tipo 0 is right.

I'm looking forward to seeing your focaccia recipes!

 

[medtran49]

Yes, you add oil before baking, but after final rising.

It's all different kinds, some like @Wandering Bob posted with variations on toppings and ingredients, some filled with various things from savory to sweets, different methods/techniques. It's not a huge book, but it's nothing but focaccia.

 

[MypinchofItaly]

Buon giorno @MypinchofItaly

Molto gentile - grazie-lei !

I was trialling two new techniques with this focaccia - no knead, and no knock-down. I didn't want to complicate matters further by incorporating a lot of EVOO - as I said, the focaccia was intentionally 'dry'. For my next focaccia - probably on Thursday - I will oil the tray. I have found in the past that storing 'oily' bread can be difficult - but as yesterday's focaccia has already been eaten, maybe it won't be a problem! Introducing my French neighbours to a focaccia that hasn't been drenched in olive oil gave me (and them) a lot of pleasure.

No - I don't think strong white bread flour is tipo 00 (I used that to make pasta, I think - it would be too fine for focaccia). Probably tipo 0 is right.

I'm looking forward to seeing your focaccia recipes!

Di niente - prego!
Of course, as we talk about authentic focaccia, apart from the basic ingredients, what differentiates it in general from bread, is the use of oil. Obviously the oil must be used in the right way, without exaggeration, so not soaked. There are also those without oil (an exception that is rather rare), without dough and without yeast (but here we could open an infinite world)

 

[Wandering Bob]

There are also those without oil (an exception that is rather rare), without dough and without yeast (but here we could open an infinite world)

The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that the focaccia I bought in London 30 years ago was either made with very little yeast (or perhaps a small amount of baking powder), or even no yeast at all. It resembled unleavened bread - and was of a 'chewy' texture.

A focaccia without dough ….? now that's puzzling

I'd be delighted if you opened up "an infinite world", if you wanted to.

 

[MypinchofItaly]

The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that the focaccia I bought in London 30 years ago was either made with very little yeast (or perhaps a small amount of baking powder), or even no yeast at all. It resembled unleavened bread - and was of a 'chewy' texture.

A focaccia without dough ….? now that's puzzling

I'd be delighted if you opened up "an infinite world", if you wanted to.

I was afraid you would have asked me ... , I'm joking. The only thing is that not even I know them all, I know a little fundamentals and some difference between the Ligurian focaccia (which has so many, famous that of Recco with cheese, or Genoese with onions, etc.), focaccia Romana (also called white pizza), Tuscan or Apulian.

And now I will shock you again: there is a sort of focaccia very low and thin called Farinata (in Liguria) or Cecìna (in Tuscany), made with chickpea flour ... and trust me, it is a show! I should have the recipe somewhere because I prepared it once.

 

[Wandering Bob]

The more focaccia recipes you post @MypinchofItaly the better, as far as I'm concerned.

Cecìna (in Tuscany), made with chickpea flour

I didn't come across Cecina in my days in Tuscany - but ceci means chickpea, right? I think it might be easier for me to get chickpea flour here, than the durum wheat flour - but I'll see if I can find the Panzani semoule fine that @morning glory referred to in the other thread.

 

[MypinchofItaly]

The more focaccia recipes you post @MypinchofItaly the better, as far as I'm concerned.



I didn't come across Cecina in my days in Tuscany - but ceci means chickpea, right? I think it might be easier for me to get chickpea flour here, than the durum wheat flour - but I'll see if I can find the Panzani semoule fine that @morning glory referred to in the other thread.

Exactly, Ceci-na comes from ceci, i.e. chickpeas. Durum wheat flour should be everywhere..
Take a look at this, hope is helpful for you:

Triticum turgidum durum, i.e. durum wheat, is typical of central-southern regions. The ear of durum wheat is longer and thicker and the final part of its ears is dark. The beans are elongated and very hard, difficult to break. In fact, its grinding leads to the flour known as semolina, semolina flour, yellow colour and widely used in southern Italy especially for the preparation of bread, pizza, focaccia, desserts and dry pasta.

The Triticum vulgare, i.e. soft wheat, is cultivated above all in northern Italy. The ear of the common wheat is wider, gold color, has round and soft beans that break easily. Different types of flour are produced: 00, 0, 1, 2 and integral, in order from more to less refined, and therefore from the less rich of the original components of the bean to the richest. Is suitable for some types of bread even if is specific for desserts and egg pasta.

 

[Herbie]

I've just looked up the chickpea focaccia. Gluten free! I must try that soon.