Rosemary & Herb Focaccia

This is a favourite for herbed focaccia. It makes 2 medium-ish sized loaves that keep well for up to a week (may want to refrigerate in the summer).

The Herb Oil instructions are at the bottom.

Bread

Ingredients

  • 5 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 teaspoons yeast
  • 6 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 cups water

Directions

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix flour, yeast, and salt. Add water and oil. Mix with a metal spoon until it’s a sticky ball.
  2. Using the dough hook, mix on medium speed until it’s smooth and clears the sides of the bowl, but sticks to the bottom. About 6 mins or so. If the dough doesn’t clear the sides, you can add a bit of flour, but it should still be very soft and sticky.
  3. Move to a well floured surface. Dust the dough with flour and pat it into a rough rectangle. let it relax for 5 mins.
  4. Stretch it out and dust it with flour. Fold it in thirds (like folding a letter) until it’s back in the rough rectangle. Mist it with olive oil misto and dust with flour. Let it rest for 30 mins (cover it with some plastic wrap or a damp towel).
  5. Repeat step 4, but let it rest on the counter for 1 hour instead of 30 mins.
  6. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. But fold the paper in half and make a peak in the middle about 2 inches tall. This will serve to divide the loaf into 2.
  7. Drizzle olive oil over the 2 sections in the parchment paper pan, making a fairly even oil layer. About 1/4 cup olive oil over both sides.
  8. Divide the dough into 2 and put half on each side of the peak in the baking pan. Drizzle the herb oil over each half. Then, using your fingers (spread out like spider-hands), dimple the dough to spread it out over the pan (don’t flatten it, dimple it out with your finger tips by poking it). Try to keep the dough at an even depth. It doesn’t need to fill the whole pan because the dough will rise.
  9. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge overnight.
  10. Remove the pan from the fridge. Dimple it again to fill the pan, then add more herb oil (you can add a lot).
  11. Sprinkle a little more chopped up garlic and a little more freshly chopped rosemary and thyme over top and let it sit covered for 3 hours at room temperature until roughly doubled in size (should be about 1 inch-ish).
  12. Pre-heat oven to 500 degrees.
  13. Sprinkle with kosher salt (or fancier), then place the pan in the oven and reduce heat to 450. Cook for 10 mins.
  14. Rotate the pan 180 degrees and cook for another 5-10 mins until the crust starts to brown.
  15. Remove from oven and let cool for about 20 mins before eating.

Herb Oil

  1. Warm 1 cup of olive oil in a small sauce pan. (DON’T BOIL!)
  2. Add chopped rosemary, thyme, basil, and any other herbs. About 1 quarter cup-ish.
  3. Add half a clove of chopped garlic and a tablespoon of kosher salt.
  4. Mix well.
  5. Reduce or remove from heat and let it sit in the warm oil a bit. Remove and let it cool. You can keep in refrigerated for a couple of weeks.