Italian Focaccia

Focaccia is a soft, oily, fluffy leavened bread, made only with five ingredients: four, water, yeast, salt and oil. It is one of the Italian symbols alongside Pizza and Lasagna, but not yet so famous as those two.

One of my most cherished memories from my childhood was coming out of school after a long day and my Grandma coming to pick me up with a piece of freshly baked Focaccia. It was still warm, fluffy and full of oil, something to look forward to survive a day in school.

Focaccia is the typical flatbread of Italy, ask any of your Italian friends about Focaccia and you will probably see their eyes sparkle with joy. Then if they cannot find any good Focaccia where you live they will probably be sad, but you can turn that smile up with this recipe below. Isn't it amazing what just some water, flour and yeast can make?

My favourite focaccia type is the focaccia with olives, but there are many typical toppings that you can add to yours like tomatoes, potatoes, anchovies, onions. I actually encourage you to try them all and select your own favorite.

I will just give you the recipe for the plain focaccia and you then decide what to put on top, but I have to say that even without anything it is pretty spectacular!

Ingredients

1kg flour

500g water

50g olive oil

30g salt

25g white sugar

24g brewer's yeast

Method

1. Dissolve the yeast in the waterwith a pinch of sugar; the water should be lukewarm. Be delicate when you mix it. Leave ti for 5 minutes.

2. Mix the flour with the salt

3.Add the yeast water to the flour and star kneading. Add the oil while kneading.

4. After kneading the dough for at least 10-15 minutes move it to a warm place to leavening for 3 hours

5. After 3 hours the dough should be double the size, then spread the dough in a greased pan , rectangular or round, and leave the dough there for 30 more minutes. After that, if any, add the toppings

6. Heat your oven to 200°C

7. Bake the focaccia for at least 45min or until golden

8. Let it cool down

9.Enjoy

Ciao

Chiara