Bake 2.8: Foccacia

Paul Hollywood graced the technical challenge with a yummy bake Focaccia! I fell down a rabbit hole of Paul Hollywood baking videos which is highly suggested if you have a few spare moments. I am not sure my kneading is up to snuff but it turned out great. 

Ingredients
40 ml olive oil + some for the counter and proving/baking tin
500 g white bread flour
360 ml cool water
10 g salt
10 g instant yeast
Dried oregano or rosemary and flaked sea salt to finish

Lightly oil a square container or pan to use for proving. 

Tip the flour into a large mixing bowl, add the yeast to one side of the bowl, and the salt to the other side. 

Add 3/4 of the water and 40 ml of the olive oil, turning the mixture around with your fingers. Continue to slowly add the water, you may not need all of it. The dough is very soft, and wetter than a standard bread dough. 

Coat the work surface with some  olive oil, tip the dough onto it and begin to knead. Knead 5-10 minutes, work through the initial stage of it being wet, try to avoid adding more flour as it should be wet and sticky, use a bench scraper if needed Eventually it will form a soft, smooth skin. 

When the dough feels soft and elastic, put it in the oiled container. Cover and allow to rise until doubled. 

Line a baking tray with parchment and drizzle with olive oil. I used a pastry brush to spread it evenly. You can use a quarter sheet pan or a 9x13 if that is what you have. I used a dark colored non-stick 9x13 pan.

Tip the dough out onto the baking tray/pan and gently stretch to fit the tray. Cover and allow to prove until doubled in size and the dough springs back when poked (gently of course). 

Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Using your fingers to make deep dimples in the dough, pushing all the way to the bottom. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with oregano and sea salt. Bake for 15 minutes. When tapping the bottom of the focaccia you will hear a hollow sound. The top of mine was not browning so I popped the grill on for 2 minutes once we hit the 15 minutes to get a nice golden brown. Drizzle the top with additional olive oil if desired and cool on a wire rack.