I know there are many among you out there who shy away from trying to make anything that needs Yeast to leaven it. But there’s really nothing to this technique, if you know how it works and follow a few common sense rules. Let’s see how it’s done by making Foccacia, an Italian flat loaf…
Rosemary Focaccia: A classic. Olives are another traditional topping…
What you need…
4 cups / 1 L Flour (Bread Flour preferred)
2 tsp. / 10 ml Salt
1 tbsp. / 15 ml Sugar
3 tbsp. / 45 ml Olive Oil
Toppings (see text for details)
For the Yeast bloom:
1 cup / 250 ml Warm Water
2 tbsp. / 15 ml Sugar
2 tbsp. / Active Dry Yeast
Preparing the yeast…
Place the Yeast and granulated Sugar in the bottom of a 1-cup / 250 ml glass or plastic measuring cup. Fill the cup with very warm water (tap water is just fine) and beat with a fork to dissolve the Sugar and start the Yeast granules breaking up and waking up. Let stand in a warm place. On the stove top is fine, since you’ll be pre-heating the Oven to 350 F to raise and bake your Bread. After 5-10 minutes, the Yeast mixture will be foaming on top and the liquid portion should be cloudy and Café au Lait in colour.
While the Yeast is blooming…
Place all the dry ingredients in a glass or stainless steel mixing bowl and blend with a whisk. This not only distributes the ingredients evenly throughout the Flour but introduces a little air which will help make the bread even lighter and softer than it would otherwise be.
Put it all together…
When the yeast is foaming and ready to go, pour it into the mixing bowl and make sure to clean any sticky lumps or sediments of Yeast out of the measuring cup into the bowl. That’s leavening gold! Stir the wet into the dry with the handle end of a large wooden spoon until the Yeast mixture is entirely soaked up by the Flour mixture.
Now, add the Olive Oil and stir it in with the spoon handle. At this point, you’ll have to judge how much extra warm Water to add to make a proper Dough. Add Water a few tablespoons at a time and keep stirring until all the Flour is taken up into the Dough Ball.
Now, you’ll have a pretty cohesive ball of Dough and you can take it out onto a Floured board or cookie sheet for kneading. If something or someone is bothering you today, visualize it or them clearly in your mind and go at the Dough with the heel of your dominant hand, pressing down and pushing out and away, creating a more or less flat layer of Dough. Fold the layer over on itself and press it down and out again. Repeat about a dozen times. Now form the Dough into a ball and replace it in the Steel bowl, drizzling it with Olive Oil to keep it from drying out and crusting over.
Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel and let the dough rise on the warm stove top until it’s doubled in size. That may take as little as 30-45 minutes or as much as a full hour or more.
When the Dough has doubled in size, place it on a parchment paper-lined sheet pan or cookie sheet and roll out very thin. I shoot for about o.5 in. / 1.5 cm. This should produce a Flatbread that’s about 1.5 in. / 3.5 cm thick – perfect for horizontal slicing for Sandwiches. Poke all over with your fingers or the tines of a fork. Trust me, this is important; it ensures a loaf of uniform thickness.
Cover the Flatbread slab with the damp towel again and let rise again on the stove top for another 45-60 minutes, then brush with Olive oil and sprinkle with your choice of finely Chopped Garlic, Chopped Olives, Rosemary, Thyme, Basil or Oregano – or a blend of any of those.
Bake at 350 F for 25 minutes, until the top is gently browned.
Storing…
Let the loaf rest and cool to room temperature. Cut into smaller loaves suitable for freezing, each of which can be further cut down into three or four 4 in. / 10 cm squares for sandwich building, or sliced horizontally for quick Pizzas or other Flatbread presentations. Wrap the larger pieces tightly and Freeze individually to facilitate future portioning.
Serving…
Your 4 in. / 10 cm Focaccia squares are perfect for stuffing with Antipasto ingredients or mixed Italian Cold Cuts, Cheese or fresh Veggies. Or whatever you want. (See picture top of page.) This flatbread is great for Burger building, too!
Variations…
Make this easy Flatbread without the Herbs and Olive Oil (substitute Canola or Corn Oil), or use different Herbs or Spices to make it complementary to other cuisines. It toasts gracefully, and anything you make with it comes out beautifully from a Panini (Sandwich) press.
Big Tip…
You can use your stand Mixer with its Dough Hook installed to streamline preparation of this Dough! Knead for 2-3 minutes, until the surface of the Dough Ball is no longer sticky.
Bonus…
Your slab of Focaccia will cost you about $0.50 in ingredients to make. Compare that with the price of a loaf of plain old store-bought White Bread ($2.00 – $3.00) and rejoice at the savings. And never forget the therapeutic benefits of kneading the Dough!
~ Maggie J.