Focaccia

Focaccia

1 h
Who can resist the smell of freshly baked warm bread? This recipe for focaccia bread is easy, quick, and absolutely delicious; you will get the perfect, authentic taste of Italy. The Italian bread is fluffy and soft with a crispy golden crust and a pleasantly chewy crumb. The classic version is topped with fresh rosemary, flaky salt, and olive oil that tie all the wonderful flavours together.
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https://www.arlafoods.co.uk/recipes/focaccia/

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 200°C (regular oven)
  • Stir yeast into the water and let it dissolve. Add sugar, salt, oil, and flour.
  • Knead the dough until it is smooth and pliable – preferably in a mixer for 8-10 minutes (until it gathers around the dough hook). The dough should still be sticky.
  • Line a baking tray with baking paper and spread the dough in it – put a little oil on your hands if necessary. Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place for approx. 1 hour.
  • Pour oil over it and press your fingers into the dough to make indentations.
  • Sprinkle with rosemary and salt and bake the bread in the middle of the oven for about 25 minutes at 200°C. Serve the focaccia while it is still warm.
Enjoy!
Tips

Our recipe for focaccia can be prepared the day before, making the bread even more delicious and full of wonderful air bubbles. Reduce the yeast to 10 g and place the baking tray with the dough covered in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours.

Tips

To ensure that the loaf has a nice rise, both for the quick and overnight version, make sure that the water you are using is lukewarm – around 37-39°C – so it does not kill the yeast. Test the water using your fingers; it should be comfortable for your fingers without being too hot or too cold. Kneading the dough is essential to getting the right texture as this step develops the structure and makes the dough softer and more elastic. If you do not knead it long enough, you will end up with flat and dense bread.

Questions about focaccia

We have the best focaccia recipe so that you can enjoy a freshly baked slice of this scrumptious bread at home. It is an excellent alternative to regular bread and tastes divine. Read on to discover how to make focaccia and other interesting facts about this Italian classic.

What is a focaccia?
Focaccia is an Italian flat oven-baked bread flavoured with a generous amount of olive oil and sometimes topped with various vegetables and herbs like rosemary. Popular focaccia toppings include tomatoes, olives, mushrooms, and onions. Olive oil is poured on top of the dough, and small indentations or dimples are made by pressing one's fingers into the dough. The bread is baked in a flat sheet pan and has a light and fluffy texture.
How to make focaccia?
It is shockingly easy to make traditional olive oil and rosemary focaccia at home. Simply dissolve yeast in water and add sugar, salt, oil, and flour. Knead the dough until it is smooth and flexible but still sticky – you can use a mixer for this part. Spread the dough into a baking tray lined with baking paper, cover it, and let it rise for about 1 hour. Pour olive oil onto the dough and press your fingers into it to make small dimples. For a final touch, sprinkle with rosemary and salt and bake for roughly 25 minutes at 200°C.
What to eat with focaccia?
Focaccia goes well with various dishes and is often served as an accompaniment to pasta, fresh green salads, and tapenades. The bread is also excellent for soup because it can be paired with just about any soup you can think of, for example, tomato soup or tomato bisque, a smoother and silkier version of the classic tomato soup. You can further toast the bread to give it a more crouton-like flavour and add some crunch.
How to reheat focaccia?
Reheat focaccia on a baking sheet in a preheated oven at 180°C until the bread is crispy and hot. If you are reheating frozen bread, make sure to thaw it at room temperature for a few hours or overnight in the fridge before popping it in the oven for about 10 minutes. The quickest way to reheat it is to wrap it in a damp paper towel and microwave it in 30-second intervals until the bread is thawed. However, the bread will be slightly chewy in texture and will not have a crispy crust. Another option is to reheat squares of the bread in a toaster at a medium setting. This will give you a much crispier texture than the microwave.
Can you freeze focaccia?
Like most bread, focaccia freezes well. Let the bread cool first before you wrap it in cling film, a freezer bag or both. If you freeze the bread whole, wrap it tightly in foil; otherwise, cut it into squares and wrap each in cling film. It is a good idea to place the bread in a freezer bag to prevent any freezer burn that can ruin the texture of the bread.
How long does focaccia last?
Focaccia always tastes best freshly baked but retains its quality for about 2-3 days at room temperature or 5-6 days if stored in the fridge. If you want to keep the bread longer, you can freeze it for up to 1 month. Regardless of where you keep the bread, it is essential to store it properly to preserve both taste and texture. Put the bread in an airtight container or wrap it in cling film and foil before placing it in a freezer bag. It is easier if you cut the loaf into smaller pieces and wrap them individually.
How thick should focaccia be?
Italian focaccia should neither be too thin, like a pizza crust, nor too thick, like a regular loaf of bread. Thus, most traditional focaccia will be about 2 cm thick. This also makes the bread great for making sandwiches as it is thick enough to slice in half or even dipping it into a hot bowl of soup to soak up all the amazing flavours.
Why is focaccia dimpled right before baking?
The dimples you see on focaccia are mandatory and there for a reason. They reduce any air or bubbles in the dough, keeping the bread flat and preventing it from rising too quickly while also allowing the olive oil to soak into the dough. This gives it a crisp and golden crust during baking.

Ingredients

Dough
Yeast
25 g
Lukewarm water
500 ml
Sugar
1 tsp
Coarse salt
1 tbsp
Olive oil
3 tbsp
Italian wheat flour, for example, Tipo 00
600 g
Topping
Olive oil
3 tbsp
Fresh rosemary leaves
Flaky salt
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Traditional focaccia with rosemary

Homemade focaccia is the best! A traditional fluffy bread that is perfectly crisp on the outside while being soft and chewy on the inside. The loaf has cute little dimples that hold tiny pools of olive oil and is topped with fresh rosemary and flaky salt, a classic combination of flavours. It is easy to make by hand and even easier if you use a mixer. Slice and serve warm for lunch and dinner!

If you enjoy this recipe, you will love our take on quick and easy flatbread straight from the pan or homemade Indian naan with garlic butter or without.

Delicious ways to serve focaccia

Once you master the simple dough, you can serve focaccia with a myriad of different dishes, though it is completely delicious served as it is. Enjoy the Italian bread with pasta, steaks, or green salads, or dunk it into a hot bowl of soup. Try spreading hummus or baba ganoush over your freshly baked bread; the flavours pair amazingly well and make for a great snack. For other lighter fillings, serve the bread with an antipasto or cheese platter. It is the perfect opportunity to get adventurous and try different flavour combinations with the bread.

High-quality olive oil and fresh ingredients

When it comes to simplicity, like focaccia and Italian cuisine in general, high quality is key. Use high-quality olive oil and fresh ingredients for the best taste. Olive oil is essential for the taste and texture of focaccia. With four primary grades of olive oil, it is crucial to pick one that will complement the bread nicely. Extra virgin olive oil and virgin olive oil are extracted using a cold-pressed method, meaning they retain a natural flavour and aroma with nuances ranging from fruity to bitter and peppery. Both are an excellent match for the Italian bread and pair wonderfully with the pungent taste of fresh rosemary leaves. The aromatic herb has a woodsy flavour with notes of citrus, pine, pepper, and mint. It has a quite strong and distinctive flavour, so you do not need much as a little goes a long way.

Choose the best flour for focaccia

To get the delicious air pockets in focaccia, you need some flour with a high content of gluten and a high protein level. Italian wheat flour like Tipo 00 is ideal for making focaccia because of its high quality and content of gluten and protein, and because it is finer in texture and less absorbent than, for instance, all-purpose flour, which is often used when making different types of bread. When you choose Tipo 00 flour, you will be rewarded with a crispy crust that is irresistible for this recipe. Some people prefer a chewier crumb and therefore choose to use bread flour instead but need to adjust the amount of water used for the bread.

Make a variation with tomatoes and olive

Focaccia with tomatoes and olives is a popular and flavourful combination. Place the dough in a baking tray and press olives and cherry tomatoes into the dough after making indentations with your fingers. For a more beautiful finish, you can use a mixture of different coloured tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper and scatter the rosemary leaves on top. Finally, drizzle with olive oil and pop the tray in the oven and bake until the bread has a beautiful golden crust. Depending on which olives you use, they will have a bitter or slighter sweeter taste. We recommend going with black olives, which have a mild, slightly salty flavour that will be balanced perfectly by the bright and sweet cherry tomatoes.

You can also use thyme, or even both rosemary and thyme, or add some mozzarella cheese on top before baking, making for a deliciously cheese bread.

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