Everyone in my house loves focaccia, which is great because it is so easy to make and with only one rise, it can be ready in no time! This is a fun recipe to get your kids involved in. Let them be creative with the shaping and the decoration of the focaccia… and enjoy as a family!
Ingredients
Makes one loaf or four individual focaccias.
- 250g Strong plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 7g Dried Yeast
- 1 tsp Salt
- 160ml warm water
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil, plus extra for greasing
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
- Choice of Herbs
Directions
- Mix together the flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl.
- Evenly distribute most of the warm water and the olive oil over the mixture. Keep the remaining water aside.
- Use a cutlery knife to quickly mix the water into the flour mix, turn the bowl as you’re mixing to even distribute it.
- Pour a little of the remaining water over any dry crumbs. Mix again with the cutlery knife and use your hands to bring it together.
- Knead the bread dough on a lightly floured work surface for 5-10minutes until it is soft and even in texture. Shape into one round loaf or three individual ones. (You can also try the tear and share version as seen in the photography – simply pull small pieces of the dough off and roll into balls, place in a lightly oiled square/rectangular cake tin, continue until you have used all of the dough and spread the dough balls out evenly – omit step 6.)
- Lightly oil a baking tray. Place the kneaded dough on top and use a rolling pin to roll the dough into an oval about 2cm thick. If making individual ones, roll before placing on the tray.
- Cover the dough with a piece of lightly oiled Clingfilm and leave to rise for about one hour. Preheat the oven to 200ᵒC.
- Check that the dough is ready to go into the oven by lightly pressing one corner of it with your finger. If an indentation is left, the dough is proved and ready.
- Before you place it in the oven, make dimples using your finger at regular intervals in the dough. Add your choice of herbs to the dimples and sprinkle the sea salt over the dough.
- Bake on the top shelf of the oven for 25 minutes until it’s golden and sounds hollow when you tap the underneath. Transfer the bread to a wire rack and cover it with a tea towel to soften the crust.
