Focaccia Genovese

Make Ahead and Storage

Best within hours. Keeps 2 days wrapped and freezes 1 month; refresh at 200°C / 390°F for 5 minutes.

Focaccia Genovese: The Method

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1. Whisk the yeast and sugar into the lukewarm water and leave 10 minutes until foaming.

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2. Mix the flour and salt, pour in the yeast water and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, and stir to a wet, shaggy dough. Do not knead.

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3. Cover and leave 30 minutes, then fold the dough over itself four times in the bowl. Repeat this fold twice more at 30-minute intervals.

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4. Cover and refrigerate 12 to 24 hours. The cold prove is where the flavour comes from.

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5. Oil a 30 x 25 cm tin generously with the remaining olive oil and tip the dough in without knocking it back.

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6. Leave at room temperature for 2 hours, until relaxed enough to stretch to the corners without tearing.

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7. Oil your fingers and press straight down through the dough to the base, all over, making deep dimples about 3 cm apart.

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8. Whisk the salamoia ingredients until cloudy and pour it over the whole surface. It will pool in the dimples and look like far too much.

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9. Prove 30 minutes more, scatter with flaky salt and rosemary, and bake at 220°C / 430°F for 22 to 25 minutes until deep gold. Cool on a rack.

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Related guides: Prep, cook and total time · Pan and tin size.

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Tips for Success

• Press to the bottom of the tin. Timid dimples spring back and the brine has nowhere to sit.
• The salamoia looks like a mistake. Pour all of it in — it is absorbed during the bake.
• The cold overnight prove is what separates good focaccia from bread with oil on it.

Good Alongside

Split and filled with mortadella · A glass of Vermentino · Alongside soup, or entirely alone

Questions About Focaccia Genovese

Nutrition per Serving

Per serving, an approximate calculation from the ingredient list. Treat it as a rough guide: an ingredient listed without an amount is not counted, so the figures run low; garnishes, greasing and other items with no amount are not counted. How the figures are worked out.