Focaccia

After getting comfortable with the poolish and the Parisian baguette, focaccia is the bread I make most often. It’s a wet, lazy dough that does almost all of the work itself overnight in the fridge, and the reward is a golden, dimpled slab with a crisp base and an open crumb.

Ingredients

• 500g strong white bread flour
• 400ml lukewarm water (80% hydration)
• 10g fine salt
• 4g instant dried yeast
• Olive oil (a lot, don’t be precious)
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• Maldon sea salt

Method

1. Mix the flour, water, salt and yeast in a large bowl until no dry flour remains (no kneading required, it will look like a shaggy mess)
2. Cover and leave at room temperature for 30 minutes
3. With wet hands, stretch one side of the dough up and fold it over itself, rotating the bowl as you go until you’ve folded all four sides
4. Rinse and repeat the folding every 30 minutes for 2 hours (4 sets in total), the dough will transform from a rough mess into something smooth and alive
5. Cover the bowl and put it in the fridge overnight (12 to 18 hours)
6. Pour a generous glug of olive oil into a deep baking tray and tip the dough in
7. Fold the dough over itself once, flip it seam side down, and leave it to prove at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours until doubled and bubbly
8. Oil your hands and dimple the dough firmly all over with your fingertips, pushing right down to the tray
9. Drizzle with more olive oil, scatter over the rosemary leaves and a generous pinch of Maldon
10. Bake at 220°C for 25 to 30 minutes until deeply golden
11. Lift out of the tray immediately and cool on a wire rack so the base stays crisp

Notes

The dough should feel wetter than you think is right. Resist the urge to add flour, the high hydration is where the open crumb comes from, and wet hands solve most of the handling problems.

Confit garlic cloves, halved cherry tomatoes or olives pressed into the dimples before baking all work brilliantly.

Inspiration

Countless slabs of focaccia in Puglia, and every baker on the internet who preaches the overnight cold prove. They’re right.