This recipe for Focaccia is from Janice W. Thomas of the Savory Spoon Cooking School in Door County, Wisconsin.
It’s one of the stops made by The Food Channel on a recent visit to Door County, hosted by the Door County Visitor’s Bureau. It is reprinted with permission. Find other stories in the series here.
Photos by Paul K. Logsdon.
Ingredients
- 1 package yeast
- ¼ cup warm water
- 2-¼ cups plus 1-2 tablespoons water, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 7-½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour (or half all-purpose flour and half bread flour)
- 1 tablespoon salt
Topping
- 2-3 tablespoons oil
- 1 tablespoon coarse salt
- Optional fresh crushed garlic, chopped fresh herbs, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, marinated cherries
Preparation
- 1 Stir yeast into warm water in mixer bowl and let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
- 2 Stir in 2-¼ cups plus 1 tablespoon water and 2 tablespoons olive oil and mix with the paddle attachment on stand mixer.*
- 3 Add flour and salt and mix until dough comes together, 1-2 minutes, adding 1 tablespoon water if needed.
- 4 Change to dough hook and knead at low speed for 1-2 minutes, then medium for 3 minutes. Dough should be velvety and elastic.
- 5 *You can mix this dough by hand if you don’t have a stand mixer, kneading for 8 minutes by hand.
- 6 First rise: Place in lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1-½ hours.
- 7 Second rise: Place dough in pan and shape to fit one oiled 10-½ x 15-½ inch pan. Cover with towel and let rise for 30 minutes.
- 8 Dimpling and third rise: Dimple dough vigorously with your fingertips, leaving indentations that are ½-inch deep. Cover with moist towel and let rise until puffed well.
- 9 Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with coarse salt.
- 10 Add toppings as desired.
- 11 Bake at 425 degrees F for 20 minutes.
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