BASIC FOCACCIA

BASIC FOCACCIA image

Yield 6 Servings

Number Of Ingredients 11

Ingredients

Dough:
5 Cups - Unbleached Flour
2 Tsp - Salt
3 Tbsp - Chopped Fresh Herbs (rosemary or sage) or 1-1/2 Tbs crumbled dried herbs (oregano, sage or herbes de Provence)
2 Cups - warm tap water (no more than 110 degrees)
1 Envelope - Active Dry Yeast (about1 scant Tbsp)
1/4 Cup - Olive oil
Topping:
1/4 Cup - Olive oil
1 tsp - Kosher salt
Chopped fresh or dried herbs (rosemary, sage, herbes de provence)

Steps:

Generously coat a 10x15" jelly-roll pan with olive oil (may use slightly larger pan, but focaccia will be thinner when baked). Note: You will need another pan of the same size or larger to slide under the first pan if focaccia begins to brown too fast on the bottom. To prepare dough: Stir together flour (spoon flour gently into dry-measure cup and level with metal spatula), salt and herbs in large missing bowl. Pour warm water into medium mixing bowl and whisk in yeast (no need to wait for yeast to dissolve), then the oil. Pour yeast mixture over flour mixture and use rubber spatula to mix them together to from smooth, sticky dough. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and leave in draft-free place at room temperature to rise until doubled, about 1 hour. After dough has risen, use rubber spatula to scrape dough out onto prepared oiled pan without folding it over. Use oiled hands to press dough into pan (don't worry if it doesn't reach all the way into corners). Cover with oiled plastic wrap and place in draft-free place to rise until well puffed and almost doubled, about 45 minutes. After 30 minutes, set rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 425 degrees. Remove plastic wrap and with index finger poke indentations over surface of dough about every inch or so. Drizzle with 1/4 cup oil and sprinkle with kosher salt and herbs. Bake about 30 minutes or until well-colored on top and bottom. Check bottom by lifting focaccia with spatula or pancake turner to make sure it is not browning too much. If it is, slide another pan under the first to insulate the bottom. Slide focaccia out of pan to cool. When completely cooled, keep loosely covered at room temperature or wrap pieces in plastic wrap and freeze. Reheat frozen focaccia at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, then cool slightly before serving.