Rosemary and Sea Salt Focaccia
Don’t be fooled by the length of the rosemary and sea salt focaccia recipe below - this focaccia is easier to make than you think! Focaccia is not a complicated bread, but its flavor and texture definitely benefits when it has time to sit and ferment. The flavors really develop and the texture of the focaccia becomes light and fluffy over time. This easy focaccia recipe took me three days to make - but, before that scares you off just know that this recipe’s active time isn’t a lot of work!
Much like croissants, this homemade focaccia and sea salt focaccia recipe needs to be folded several times over the course of a few hours to develop its texture. The total number of times that you work the dough is up to you - I ended up folding this focaccia five times because I wanted to make sure that it created lots of bubbles which would ensure that it turns out fluffy and soft. But, you could totally fold this homemade focaccia dough two or three times to get an amazing result, too. It’s up to you! This may as well be called “choose your own adventure focaccia” because the amount of work you put into it is totally your call.
I just went for the most extreme version of making this rosemary focaccia recipe because I’m an extreme baker ;)
But first, what is focaccia? Focaccia is a type of Italian bread. The trademark of focaccia is the wrinkles that form on the surface and the crevices that bubble inside of the dough. Take a look at the photos and video below to get a visual of what I’m taking about. Focaccia is a bread that’s perfect for dipping in olive oil, or for slicing length-wise and using for sandwiches. Overall, focaccia is probably the best bread ever! And it’s not at all complicated to make. In fact, this homemade focaccia recipe with rosemary and sea salt may become your new favorite bread recipe, too.
I mentioned that this particular focaccia bread recipe takes three days to make. Day one is pretty much the day that you assemble the dough starter and allow it to proof overnight. Not a lot of work is needed on the first day, but on day two you’ll spend some time working the focaccia dough to get those bubbles and crevices forming. Allow the focaccia dough to rest again over night, and the next day you bake it! I break down all of the steps for this process below. The more detailed recipe is at the very end of this blog post.
Day 1
In a large bowl, mix together your bread flour, water, and yeast until dissolved. This is called a “poolish” - it’s basically the starter for your bread, kind of like a sourdough starter, but not sourdough.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rest at room temperature for at least 12 hours. You’ll want to do this at night so it can rest overnight, and you can move onto the next steps in the morning. The poolish will rise considerably so use a large bowl!
Day 2
In the morning, pour your poolish into the bowl of a stand mixer and add in additional bread flour, honey, water, salt, and olive oil. Knead this in the stand mixer for about 10 minutes. The dough will be very soft and won’t form into a ball, and that’s ok!
Tip the dough into a large rectangular container that’s coated in olive oil. Allow it to rest for about an hour, until risen and spread to the sides of the container. Oil your hands, and fold the dough onto itself in all four directions (check out the video below to see what I mean)! Cover the container and allow it to rest for an hour. Oil your hands again, and fold the dough again in all four directions. Poke your fingers all over the top of the dough to help bubbles form. Allow the dough to rest.
Repeat this process once an hour, about 3-5 times. After the final fold, rest the dough in the fridge overnight.
Day 3
Take the dough out of the fridge and allow it to reach room temperature. This can take 3-4 hours, depending on how warm your kitchen is.
Once it’s at room temperature, tip the dough onto a baking sheet or a jelly roll pan and poke holes all over the top. Allow it to rest for one more hour. It will spread and settle into its shape during this time. Top with chopped rosemary and crushed sea salt, being careful not to pop any of the bubbles that have formed.
Bake the bread in a heated oven for about 20-30 minutes, until golden brown. Allow to cool and enjoy!
Recipe
Prep Time: 30 minutes . Rest Time: 20 hrs . Cook Time: 20-30 minutes .
Ingredients
Poolish
200g bread flour
200g warm water
1.5 tsp dried yeast
Dough
425g bread flour
7g honey
265g warm water
15g salt
45g olive oil
Topping
Olive oil
Flaky sea salt
Chopped rosemary leaves
DIRECTIONS
Day 1
Put the yeast and warm water in a medium bowl and whisk to dissolve. Add the flour and stir using a wooden spoon until thoroughly combined.
Cover with clingfilm and leave at room temp to rest overnight, about 12 hours, until bubbly and doubled in size.
Day 2
The next day, decant the poolish into a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the remaining dough ingredients. Mix for about 10-12 minutes on medium speed until the dough is smooth and elastic. The dough will be very wet and loose.
Tip the dough into a large rectangular container that’s coated in olive oil. Allow it to rest for about an hour, until risen and spread to the sides of the container. Oil your hands, and fold the dough onto itself in all four directions (check out the video to see).
Cover the container and allow it to rest for an hour. Oil your hands again, and fold the dough again in all four directions. Poke your fingers all over the top of the dough to help bubbles form. Allow the dough to rest.
Repeat this process once an hour, about 3-5 times. After the final fold, rest the dough in the fridge overnight.
Day 3
Take the dough out of the fridge and allow it to rest on the counter for about 2-3 hours, or until it reaches room temperature.
Meanwhile, grease a baking sheet or a jelly roll pan with olive oil. Set aside.
Pour the dough onto the baking sheet. Oil your hands, and gently shape the edges with your fingers. The dough will spread a bit so just do your best.
Allow the dough to rest for one hour.
Meanwhile, pre-heat your oven to 450 F.
Brush the dough with olive oil and top with chopped rosemary and crushed sea salt.
Bake in the oven for about 20 30 minutes, or until well risen and golden brown.
Take it out of the oven and allow to cool before serving. Enjoy!
Adapted From: Tastemade UK