[sunday night supper: focaccia]

After a day of mulching, watering and general outdoor diy, what better way to recuperate than kneading?


My recipe for a super simple focaccia:


2 3/4 cups flour (in the U.K. plain flour is fine, here I used all-purpose)
2 teaspoons ground sea salt
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
a few teaspoons of whatever herbs you like. I chucked in chili flakes for one focaccia, fresh rosemary and sage from the garden for another and some chopped green olives for another. Just put in whatever catches your fancy.

1 cup warm water (this is approximate. I ended up using just under one cup)
3 tablespoons olive oil (again this is approx. you want a smooth and elastic consistency)





Now, get your hands dirty. Put all the ingredients in a bowl (though you might want to put in only a bit of liquid at a time to make sure you get the right consistency) and mix. When the ingredients have combined start kneading until you get a smoothish and elastic mound of dough. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and let the focaccia rise. My kitchen was quite warm so it only took about 20 minutes but you might have to give yours 30 min. to an hour to double (approx.) in size.

Have your oven on to preheat at 375 degrees (but perhaps 400 if you don't have a convention oven).



When your dough is ready, oil whatever baking sheet you'll be using. Then oil your fingers and punch down and then pat our your dough. Some people make rectangular shapes but whatever shape you choose, stretch out the dough until it's about 2cm thick (or so).

When you've lined the baking sheet with your dough, you're ready to make some finger indentations and then scatter on your toppings. Do give a healthy drizzle of olive oil too! You can use slivers of onion, potato (for a traditional Abruzzese focaccia), sprigs of rosemary, salami...

I did potato and rosemary on one, salami and sage on another, Parmesan and chili flakes on another.

I also had a little dipping bowl of olive oil and balsamic; adds a nice twist to your focaccia.