Sourdough Focaccia (Fourth of July, 2020)
Happy Fourth of July Weekend! It’s a HOT one here in West Michigan. This combo of events definitely = Beach! I went twice this weekend! First on Friday, the third, Lara and I went to Grand Haven city beach early when dogs are allowed (before 11), so we could walk the beach with Pinda and try to get him used to the water. We also wanted to avoid all the holiday weekend beach crowd. It was a glorious day. The lake was calm, the water was warm, and the sun was shining. Pinda is still not very sure about the water. He’ll allow us to drag him in, but then he turns right around and swims as fast as he can back to shore! It’s cute, but we want him to want to go in the water. Baby steps I guess!
Before doing anything else, we ate a chocolate muffin and drank coffee in the sand. Breakfast of champions! Then we headed down the beach for a walk and swim. Then we sat in our beach chairs and just watched the water and all the people for a bit. Relaxing and enjoyable! When we had to get the dog off the beach we headed into town to get some iced lattes at Aldea. Perfect! It was a hot walk along the boardwalk, but such a beautiful day. Mid-80s and sunny. Perfect holiday weekend!
Then, on the evening of the Fourth, my Aunt and Uncle invited me and my family out to their house on Lake Macatawa for some food and a boat ride on their new boat. She asked if we would bring some kind of appetizer. For the last few weeks/months I’ve really been liking the pizza dough I’ve been making and I’d been wanting to try making it into focaccia. I adapted a basic pizza dough recipe in order to use up my leftover sourdough starter from bread baking and it seemed like it could make a good focaccia as well. I decided this was the time and place to try it out.
I replaced some of the water and flour in the recipe with my discarded starter (I used 150 grams this time, in the past when I’ve made this as pizza dough I’ve done 120 grams and both seemed to work just fine in their respective settings so the recipe is pretty forgiving). I also increased the salt slightly from the original, I thought it needed a little more. I really like the addition of a small amount of oil and sugar to this dough. I think it adds the perfect balance of sweetness to the dough, as well as tenderizing it.
I let the dough rise for an hour before popping it in the fridge overnight. It ended up exploding out of the bowl I was using which is always kind of crazy! The next day I took it out and added in my mix-ins. I did cubes of sharp Irish Cheddar, some raw garlic, and a bunch of chopped fresh herbs (parsley, chives, thyme, and basil). I dumped all this into a parchment lined 9x13 inch glass pan in which I drizzled a nice amount of olive oil first (I have tried and tried to make focaccia without parchment and I have never succeeded. It ALWAYS sticks to the pan no matter what I do or how much oil I put in it. So I’ve just given in and now use parchment. It works great!). I let it rise for another 50-60 minutes until super puffy before baking. I looked at a few recipes and it seemed like most did 425, although I did see 450. I baked it for 30 minutes at 425. I would have liked it a little more brown on both the top and bottom, but the interior was soft and well baked so I wasn’t too upset about the browning.
Right before putting in the oven, I drizzled with a little more olive oil. Then, while the bread was baking I made a little garlic and herb infused oil that I brushed on top as soon as it came out of the oven. I heated olive oil, butter, and slivered garlic in a cold pan until it was just started to bubble but the garlic hadn’t browned yet. I took off heat and added herbs (thyme, basil and chopped parsley). Once the oil was brushed on I grated a some Piave Vecchio cheese over the hot bread and oil. So good!
I thought it turned out great! I think this is the best focaccia I’ve made yet. It was tall which I always want my focaccia to be. It seems like so many recipes make a thin focaccia, but I want my thick, thick, thick! The interior was super soft and delicious! I love adding garlic oil/butter to the top as soon as it’s out of the oven. It adds such great fresh flavor that you don’t get if you only add oil before baking.
Some things I’d like to try - while the interior was fantastic, I would like it a little more open crumb, hole-ier if you will. I would like to try adding more water to the dough at the start, making a more pourable dough. I could also try replacing some/all of the flour with bread flour to help with structure and chew. But if I never end up changing anything I would be very happy eating this focaccia from here on out!
Sourdough Focaccia
Adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction
Ingredients
150 grams leftover/discarded sourdough starter
365 grams all purpose flour
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons (25 grams) olive oil
302 grams water
Directions
Add all of the ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook and knead for 5-6 minutes, until nice and soft and smooth. Transfer to a oiled bowl and cover for an hour. Then place in the fridge until ready to use.
Once ready to bake, line a 9x13 inch pan with parchment paper and generously drizzle olive oil onto the parchment and spread all around the bottom of the pan. Transfer the dough to the prepared pan and use your fingers to spread it out until it evenly lays in the pan, touching all corners and sides as best you can. (If you want to add anything to the dough, add it before you transfer to the pan. Alternatively you can add these ingredients to the dough right away when it is first made, before the initial rise). You may need to let it rest for 5-10 minutes a couple of times to help the dough relax and be easier to spread. Once it is spread out, cover with plastic and let rise another 45-60 minutes until super poofy and tall.
Once ready to bake, drizzle with more olive oil and sprinkle with plenty of flaky salt. The more the better in my opinion… Bake in a 425 degree preheated oven for 30 minutes. If desired, poke some holes in the bread as soon as it comes out of the oven, brush the hot bread with a mixture of melted butter and olive oil (and garlic if you’d like, I do) and sprinkle with more flaky salt if desired (I do). Let cool completely before cutting.
You can cut into thin strips as I did this time, or you can cut into squares. I know this would make some delicious focaccia sandwiches!
