When I bake pizza at home, I make some more dough for a focaccia. If I have guests, I bake it first and serve it with prosciutto while I finish making the pizzas. Otherwise, I let it cool down and freeze it vacuum sealed for later use or last-minute meals.
Ingredients: A V Ef
(serve 4 to 6 – makes a 10’ x 14’ focaccia)
- 300 g. all-purpose flour
- 100 g. bread flour
- 300 ml. water
- 6 g. of fresh yeast or 3 g. of instant yeast
- 9 g. salt
- Crystal salt for the top
- 2 sprigs of rosemary
- 2 Tbsp. EVOO _+1 for greasing the baking pan
Measure the first five ingredients before starting.
Warm up the water to 90-95 F, pour it into a big bowl and dissolve the yeast.
Add the flour and stir with a spoon. After all flour has been absorbed, add the salt and keep mixing. At this stage the dough will look sticky and messy, but don’t worry, it will come together. Cover the bowl with plastic film and let it rest for 15 minutes.
**After the 15 minutes, transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface, put some flour on your hands and fold it as the follows: think of a compass and grab the east side of the dough with both hands, pull it gently and fold it over the center of the dough. Repeat with the north side of the dough, then the east side, and after doing it with the south side flip the dough upside down. Return to dough to the bowl, cover, and let it rest for 15 minutes.
Repeat from ** to ** two more times (for a total of 45 minutes)
After the three foldings, make the dough into a ball let it raise for approx. 2 hours or until it doubles in size.
Oil well the bottom of the baking pan, then flatten the dough with oiled fingertips directly in the baking pan. Keep flattening the dough with your fingertips until you get the desired size.
Cover it with plastic film and let it raise in a warm place for 1 hour.
Warm up the oven at 400 F.
With a fork, make a few holes on the surface of the focaccia. Brush evenly 2 Tbsp. of Evoo on the dough and grind some coarse salt on top. Remove the leaves from the rosemary stem and arrange them on the dough.
Bake until golden, approx. 20-25 minutes.
Tip: If you cannot stay at home for the five hours it takes to make the dough, you can put the dough in the refrigerator 24 hours. Just remember to take it out at least one hour before baking it.
