Creating a gourmet olive and rosemary focaccia with sea salt is not only an achievable feat, but one that will leave you with a deep sense of satisfaction. As you delve into the Italian tradition of baking bread, you’ll find that every step from mixing the dough to drizzling it with olive oil feels almost therapeutic. This is a dish that appeals to beginners and experienced bakers alike, marrying the simplicity of ingredients with the elegance of the end result.
Getting Started: What You Need
Before you can begin crafting your focaccia, it’s important to gather your ingredients. This recipe calls for the simplicity of a basic bread dough but adds a gourmet touch with the addition of olives, rosemary, and sea salt.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- 500g all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp dry yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 1/4 cups warm water
- 1/2 cup olives, pitted and sliced
- Fresh rosemary
- Coarse sea salt
Now that you’ve prepared your ingredients, it’s time to start the baking process.
Preparing the Dough
The first step in making focaccia is to prepare the dough. This is a crucial step as it lays the foundation for the rest of the recipe. Start by dissolving your yeast in warm water and letting it sit for about 10 minutes. This allows the yeast to activate, which will give your bread its characteristic rise.
Next, in a large bowl, combine your flour and salt. Creating a well in the center of your flour mixture, add the yeast mixture and olive oil. Stir until you have a sticky dough. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for about 10 minutes until it becomes smooth and elastic. This is a crucial step as kneading develops the gluten in the flour, which gives the bread its structure.
After kneading, place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover it with a clean kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm place for about one hour or until it has doubled in size.
Shaping and Topping the Focaccia
Once your dough has risen, it’s time to shape and top your focaccia. Preheat your oven to 200°C (400°F) and lightly oil a baking pan. Punch down your dough to release the air, then transfer it to the oiled pan and press it out to fit the size of the pan.
Create dimples in the dough using your fingertips. This is a signature characteristic of focaccia and these dimples will hold little pools of olive oil, adding to the flavor of the bread. Drizzle the dough with additional olive oil, ensuring it pools in the dimples.
Next, evenly distribute your sliced olives and fresh rosemary over the dough. Ensure you press them slightly into the surface so they adhere to the dough and don’t fall off during baking. Lastly, sprinkle your dough with coarse sea salt. This not only adds flavor but also gives a delightful crunchy texture to the finished bread.
Baking the Focaccia
Baking the focaccia is the final step in this process. Place your topped dough in the preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.
During this time, the heat will cause the yeast to work its final magic, giving your bread a beautiful rise and creating a light, airy texture. The oil, rosemary, olives, and salt will infuse into the bread, creating a heady aroma that is the very essence of Italian baking.
Finally, remove your focaccia from the oven and let it cool slightly in the pan. As it cools, the olive oil and other flavors will continue to permeate the bread, resulting in a gourmet focaccia that is fragrant, flavorful, and deeply satisfying.
Enjoying Your Homemade Focaccia
Now that you’ve baked your gourmet focaccia, it’s time to enjoy it. Focaccia is wonderfully versatile and can be served as a side dish, an appetizer, or a stand-alone snack. Pair it with a glass of wine, a hearty pasta dish, or a fresh salad and you’ve got a fantastic Italian feast right at home.
Remember, the key to a great focaccia is in the quality of the ingredients, so use the best olive oil, sea salt, and fresh rosemary you can find. This, combined with a little time and effort, will result in a bread that is not only delicious but also a testament to your baking skills. And who knows, you might just find yourself falling in love with the process and exploring more of the wonderful world of bread baking.
The Secret to Gourmet Focaccia: Ingredients and Technique
The ingredients of this focaccia recipe are simple: olive oil, sea salt, and fresh rosemary, but it’s the technique that makes it truly gourmet. Start with high-quality bread flour. While all-purpose flour can work in a pinch, it’s the high protein content in bread flour that helps to develop the structure and texture of the focaccia. The yeast, activated by warm water, should be fresh for ensuring a good rise.
For the toppings, source the best olive oil you can afford — it’s a key ingredient, not just a topping. The type of olives you use can also influence the flavor of your bread. Kalamata olives, for instance, will give your focaccia a bold, briny flavor.
Fresh rosemary is another critical ingredient. While dried rosemary can be used, fresh rosemary provides a much more potent and flavorful experience. The rosemary, combined with flaky sea salt, creates a savory topping that perfectly complements the rich olive oil and the hint of sweetness from the dough.
The use of a stand mixer for kneading the dough can be a game-changer, saving you time and energy. However, if you don’t have one, kneading by hand is still perfectly fine. The key is to knead until the dough becomes smooth and elastic, indicating that the gluten has been sufficiently developed.
After the dough has been kneaded and given time to rise, it’s then shaped and topped. This is where you can get creative. Traditional focaccia has dimples created with fingertips, but you can also score the dough with a knife for a different look. Remember to drizzle generously with olive oil and sprinkle with rosemary and sea salt before baking.
Finally, let the focaccia cool before slicing to allow the flavors to meld. Cover the bread with a clean towel or plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out as it cools.
Conclusion: A Gourmet Journey
Crafting a gourmet olive and rosemary focaccia with sea salt is a journey into the heart of Italian baking. Even with simple ingredients like olive oil, sea salt, and fresh rosemary, the end result can be satisfyingly complex. It requires patience, as you allow the dough to rise and the flavors to develop. However, the results are worth the wait: a loaf of focaccia that is deeply aromatic, flavorful, and textured.
Every step, from activating the yeast in warm water to kneading the dough and letting it rise at room temperature, contributes to the final product. The use of a stand mixer can simplify the process, but it’s not required. Even the choice of toppings and how they’re applied can affect the overall flavor profile of the bread.
Making focaccia at home might seem daunting at first, but with practice, you’ll find it to be an enjoyable and rewarding experience. And the best part is, you get to enjoy a slice of fresh, homemade focaccia at the end of it all. There’s nothing quite like the taste and texture of freshly baked focaccia, especially when it’s made with love and quality ingredients.
So the next time you’re craving a taste of Italy, why not bake a gourmet loaf of olive and rosemary focaccia with sea salt? It’s a delicious way to travel without leaving your kitchen.
