BECOME A HOST OF THE YEAR BY SERVING FOCACCIA

Tuesday, 09 April 2019 21:15:27

Soft and subtle. Loved by kids, adults, friends and family. Serving freshly baked focaccia is a simple way to impress the most distinguished guests. Follow my recipe and become a host of the year.

Recipe makes two delicious loaves.

• Find a big bowl.
• Mix 500g of white flour and 2 tablespoons of dried yeast (make sure they are fresh).
• Add 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix it again.
• Prepare 250ml of warm (not hot!) water and 150 ml of warm (not hot!) milk*
• Add it slowly to your dry ingredients and keep stirring (with a wooden spoon) to get the consistency of a dough (approximately 3 minutes).
• Now it is time for my favourite part! Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil and start kneading the dough for next 5-7 minutes. At this point you don’t need your wooden spoon – use your hand.
• Once you are able to shape the dough into a ball and the dough is not sticking to your hand you know your focaccia is ready to relax and grow.
• Cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave to rise. Wait till it doubles its size (1-2 hours) . See, that’s why you need a big bowl.
• Now it is time to prepare two middle size forms. They can be square or oval, depends on what you’ve got in your kitchen. Grease them with olive oil and sprinkle with semolina. You can skip semolina part but I promise it is worth not to.
• When dough is ready divide it into two portions. Place them into the form and flatten using your fingers to stretch the dough to the corners. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil/loaf and spread it with fingers all over the loaves leaving your fingers marks on the dough.
• Now sprinkle loaves with fresh rosemary, garlic powder and thick sea salt. Cover with tea towel and let it rise again for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven - 200C.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Serve with whatever you like.

*vegan version – skip the milk and add 400ml of warm water or swap regular milk with almond milk.