Rosemary Focaccia
I think everyone who watched Samin Nosrat’s make focaccia on her Netflix Show “Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat” salivated and headed straight to kitchen to make it themselves. How could you resist plunging into this pillowing dough layered with olive oil and flakey salt.
Thankfully Samin has generously shared her recipe, so all can get their hands on a thick slab of homemade Ligurian focaccia.
I’ve made a few focaccia recipes over the years, but this one is hands down the best I’ve tried yet. I think the secret is in the brine solution, and also making sure to use a really good quality extra-virgin olive oil
Ingredients (dough)
2½ cups (600 grams) lukewarm water
½ teaspoon active dry yeast
2½ teaspoons (15 grams) honey
5 1/3 cups (800 grams) all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons (18 grams) Kosher salt or 1 tablespoon fine sea salt
¼ cup (50 grams) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for pan and finishing
2 springs of rosemary
Flaky salt for finishing
Ingredients (brine)
1½ teaspoons (5 grams) Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt
⅓ cup (80 grams) lukewarm water
Method
To make the dough, dissolve the yeast, honey , and water. In a separate bowl whisk the flour and salt together. Then slowly add yeast mixture and olive oil. Fold together mixture with a rubber spatula making sure to incorporate sides of the bowl. Once it’s mixed together, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave to ferment at room temperature for 12 to 14 hours. Dough should at least double in size.
Spread 2-3 T olive oil evenly onto a 18-by-13 inch rimmed baking sheet. Scoop proofed dough gently onto the pan making sure it’s spread evenly across. You can gently stretch the dough to the edges of the sheet by placing your hands underneath and slowly pulling outward.
Over the course of 30 minutes, the dough will shrink, so keep an eye on it and stretch 1 or 2 more times.
Create dimpled in the dough by placing the pads of your first three fingers at an angle. This video tutorial is very helpful.
Make the brine by stirring the salt and water together. Once dissolved, pour the bring over the dough making sure to get that salty solution into the dimples.
Proof focaccia for another 45 minutes. The dough will be light and bubbly when ready.
30 minutes into this last proofing, preheat the oven to 450°F and adjust the rack to the center position. If you have a baking stone place it on the rack. Otherwise, invert another baking sheet and place it on the rack.
Finally, sprinkle the focaccia with a flaky salt (I like Maldon salt). Bake for 25 to 30 minutes directly on top of the stone/inverted pan until the bottom of the focaccia should be crisp and golden brown.
Add chopped rosemary leaves to the top and bake for an additional 5-7 minutes on the top rack to brown the top crust.
Take the focaccia out of the oven and brush 2-3 T more olive oil over the surface. Let it cool for 5 minutes in the pan and absorb the new layer of olive oil.
Transfer focaccia to a cooling rack and let it cool.
Focaccia is best eaten the day its made (not long after it’s removed from the oven), but you can wrap it in parchment paper and keep it in an airtight container to preserve the texture. You can also wrap it tightly and freeze it. I would recommend sticking it back in the oven if you are reheating so it can get crispy again.