Focaccia Barese
A Puglian focaccia with potato in the dough, topped with cherry tomatoes and olives, risen for 2 hours and baked for 30 minutes.
Photograph credit: Focaccia Barese by Simona.IT · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
Before You Start
Use a floury potato and mash it smooth.
Oil the tin generously for a crisp base.
Press the tomatoes in cut side up.
Cooking Focaccia Barese
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Boil the potato for 20 minutes until soft. Peel and mash it smooth.
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Mix the potato, flour, water, yeast and salt and 1 tablespoon of the oil and knead for 8 minutes.
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Cover and leave for 2 hours until doubled.
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Oil a 30 cm tin with 2 tablespoons of the oil. Press the dough out to the edges.
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Heat the oven to 220°C / 430°F. Dimple the dough, press in the tomatoes cut side up and the olives. Drizzle with the remaining oil and scatter with the oregano and flaky salt.
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Bake for 30 minutes until deep golden. Cool on a rack.
Related guides: Prep, cook and total time · Pan and tin size.
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What's Going On Here
It is the sight of the tomatoes sinking into the dough that tells you the focaccia is going to be good. Focaccia barese, from Bari in Puglia, is a thick, soft, olive oil rich bread with cherry tomatoes pressed into the top and a few black olives.
The potato is the secret to the crumb. Boil a floury potato, mash it smooth and work it into the dough with the flour, yeast and water, which keeps the bread soft for days. Be generous with the oil in the tin, as it fries the base and makes it golden and crisp at the edges. Press the dough out with oiled fingertips.
Leave it for 2 hours to rise, dimple it again, then press in the halved tomatoes, cut side up, and the olives. Sprinkle with flaky salt and a little dried oregano. Bake at 220°C / 430°F for 30 minutes until the top is deep gold. Cool it on a rack so the base stays crisp.
Storage and Reheating
Keeps for 2 days wrapped. Freeze for 2 months.
Ingredient Swaps
- Fresh herbs work in place of the dried oregano at roughly three times the quantity — a teaspoon of dried is about a tablespoon of fresh, chopped.
Good With
- Green salad
- Mozzarella
- Cured ham
Common Questions About Focaccia Barese
How long does Focaccia Barese take to make?
25 minutes of preparation and 50 minutes of cooking, plus 2 hours of Rising, so allow 3 hours 15 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 8.
Nutrition per Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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