Focaccia Genovese

Name: Focaccia Genovese
Prep time: 200 min
Cook time: 18 min
Total time: 218 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 500 g Italian type 0 flour (medium strength, about 11 to 12 percent protein); 325 ml lukewarm water; 10 g fresh yeast (or 4 g instant dry yeast); 5 g barley malt syrup (or 1 teaspoon sugar); 10 g fine sea salt (for the dough); 40 ml extra virgin olive oil (for the dough, Ligurian if possible); 50 ml extra virgin olive oil (for the tray); 80 ml water (for the salamoia brine); 40 ml extra virgin olive oil (for the salamoia brine); 5 g fine sea salt (for the salamoia brine); 5 g coarse sea salt (for sprinkling on top)

Serves 8 · 218 min · Italian

Ingredients

500 g Italian type 0 flour
325 ml lukewarm water
10 g fresh yeast
5 g barley malt syrup
10 g fine sea salt
40 ml extra virgin olive oil
50 ml extra virgin olive oil
80 ml water
40 ml extra virgin olive oil
5 g fine sea salt
5 g coarse sea salt

Method

01
Dissolve the yeast Pour the 325 millilitres of lukewarm water into a large bowl, crumble in the fresh yeast, add the malt syrup, and stir until dissolved. Leave it for five minutes.
02
Mix and knead Add the flour and mix until shaggy, then add the 10 grams of salt and the 40 millilitres of olive oil, and knead for about ten minutes until the dough is smooth, soft and slightly sticky.
03
Let it rise Shape the dough into a ball, cover the bowl with a cloth, and leave it in a warm place for one hour until it has roughly doubled.
04
Oil the tray Pour the 50 millilitres of olive oil into a baking tray about 30 by 40 centimetres, set the dough in the middle, and gently press it out with your fingertips as far as it will go, then let it relax for ten minutes.
05
Stretch and proof Gently stretch the dough right into the corners of the tray so it is an even thickness, then cover it and leave it to rise for one hour.
06
Make the salamoia In a jar or small bowl, whisk together the 80 millilitres of water, the 40 millilitres of olive oil and the 5 grams of fine salt until it turns cloudy.
07
Dimple the dough Press your fingertips firmly into the dough all over, pushing right down to the bottom of the tray to make deep dimples, then pour the salamoia evenly over the top and scatter the coarse salt.
08
Final proof Leave the tray uncovered for forty five minutes to rise again, and while it waits, heat the oven to two hundred and forty degrees Celsius.
09
Bake the focaccia Bake the focaccia on the lowest rack of the oven for about eighteen minutes, until the bottom is golden and crisp and the top is pale gold with lighter spots in the dimples.
10
Rest and serve Let the focaccia rest in the tray for five minutes, then lift it onto a rack, cut it into squares, and serve it warm or at room temperature.

Method

Dissolve the yeast

Pour the 325 millilitres of lukewarm water into a large bowl, crumble in the fresh yeast, add the malt syrup, and stir until dissolved. Leave it for five minutes.

The water should feel just warm on your wrist. Hot water will kill the yeast.

Dissolve the yeast · 5 min

Mix and knead

Add the flour and mix until shaggy, then add the 10 grams of salt and the 40 millilitres of olive oil, and knead for about ten minutes until the dough is smooth, soft and slightly sticky.

If you cannot find Italian type 0 flour, use half bread flour and half plain flour.

Mix and knead · 10 min

Let it rise

Shape the dough into a ball, cover the bowl with a cloth, and leave it in a warm place for one hour until it has roughly doubled.

Let it rise · 60 min

Oil the tray

Pour the 50 millilitres of olive oil into a baking tray about 30 by 40 centimetres, set the dough in the middle, and gently press it out with your fingertips as far as it will go, then let it relax for ten minutes.

If the dough keeps springing back, stop and let it rest. Forcing it will tear it.

Oil the tray · 10 min

Stretch and proof

Gently stretch the dough right into the corners of the tray so it is an even thickness, then cover it and leave it to rise for one hour.

Stretch and proof · 60 min

Make the salamoia

In a jar or small bowl, whisk together the 80 millilitres of water, the 40 millilitres of olive oil and the 5 grams of fine salt until it turns cloudy.

Dimple the dough

Press your fingertips firmly into the dough all over, pushing right down to the bottom of the tray to make deep dimples, then pour the salamoia evenly over the top and scatter the coarse salt.

Little pools of brine sitting in the dimples are exactly right. They are what give the top its white, soft, salty spots.

Final proof

Leave the tray uncovered for forty five minutes to rise again, and while it waits, heat the oven to two hundred and forty degrees Celsius.

Final proof · 45 min

Bake the focaccia

Bake the focaccia on the lowest rack of the oven for about eighteen minutes, until the bottom is golden and crisp and the top is pale gold with lighter spots in the dimples.

Do not wait for the whole top to brown. Genoese focaccia stays soft and pale on top, and overbaking makes it dry.

Bake the focaccia · 18 min

Rest and serve

Let the focaccia rest in the tray for five minutes, then lift it onto a rack, cut it into squares, and serve it warm or at room temperature.

Rest and serve · 5 min

Focaccia Genovese

Ingredients

Method

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