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Recipes 

Focaccia Ligure

Frank Granieri

Focaccia Ligure

Focaccia Ligure

Focaccia Ligure

Focaccia is a popular Italian yeast bread which is sometimes compared to pizza, as they are both are flat breads. The focus of focaccia, however, is on the bread, rather than the toppings, although toppings for focaccia are almost as diverse as those on pizza.

The top of the focaccia is dimpled and brushed with oil to keep the bread moist and flavorful. The dimpling in the dough is usually accomplished by poking it gently with the fingers just before dressing the bread. The dimples collect oil and any added herbs and spices—creating pockets of flavor. A well-made focaccia should feel light and flavorful, not greasy and heavy.

In Italy, flour is classified either as 1, 0, or 00, and refers to how finely ground the flour is, and how much of the bran and germ have been removed. Doppio zero is the most highly refined and is talcum-powder soft. It’s made from spring wheat in the Campania region of Italy, ’00’ flours work beautifully for breads, pasta, and pizza.

By by Academia Barilla, adapted by the Sur La Table kitchen

Ingredients

Makes 10 servings

    • 17½ oz (500g) water, warm (105°F to 115°F)

    • 1 oz (30g) quick rise yeast

    • 1 tablespoon (15g) barley malt or sugar

    • 2 pounds (900g) Caputo 00 Pizza Flour

    • ⅓ cup (100g) boiled mashed potatoes

    • 1 tablespoon (25g) salt

    • 3½ oz (100g) Extra Virgin Olive Oil

For the preparation of the solution:

  • ½ cup water

  • 1 tablespoon salt

  • ⅓ cup (for 21 oz. of dough) Extra Virgin Olive Oil

  • 4 teaspoons Sapori Italiani

Procedure

  1. Place pizza stone the oven and preheat oven to 475°F.

  2. The stone needs to heat in the oven for ½ hour to 1 hour before baking focaccia.

  3. Place the warm water in large bowl.

  4. Sprinkle in dry yeast and barley malt or sugar; stir with fork.

  5. Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 10 minutes.

  6. Add flour, mashed potatoes and salt to yeast mixture and stir to blend well (dough will be sticky).

  7. Knead dough on a floured surface until smooth and elastic, adding more flour by tablespoon increments if dough is too sticky, about 10 minutes.

  8. Form dough into ball.

  9. Oil large bowl; add dough, turning to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm area until doubled, about 1 hour.

  10. Punch down dough; divide the dough into pieces of about 21 oz. each, then shape each piece into round or cylindrical shapes about ½ inch thick.

  11. Using your fingers put divots in the dough and brush the dough with the water, salt and olive oil mixture (the ‘solution’).

  12. Sprinkle dough with Sapori seasoning.

  13. Using a pizza peel, slide the dough onto the pre-heated pizza stone. Cook for about 18-20 minutes and serve.