Olive & Garlic Focaccia

Flat Bread with Herb Topping

 

Focaccia is an Italian invention very much like the Pizza but with fewer toppings. It’s easy to make and you can mix and match your herb toppings. Here I have gone all the way and have mixed olives, garlic and herbs on to my Focaccia. It can be a perfect side for your meals or as a sandwich bread. On a previous post I have explained more about yeast and how to make the best bread. Click here for my bread making tips.

 

What we need:

Active Dry Yeast – 1 tbsp
Sugar – ½ tsp
All-purpose flour – 2 cups
Warm water – ½ cup
Salt – ½ tsp  
Olive Oil – 4 tbsp

For the topping:
Olives – any kind – about ½ cup - roughly chopped
Garlic – 2 tbsp – finely chopped
Herbs – 2 tsp (I used a combination of thyme, basil, oregano and red chilly flakes)

Olive oil for drizzling  
Salt for sprinkling

How we do it:

Line a cookie sheet with aluminium foil/parchment paper and grease it with a little oil.

Take half a cup of lukewarm water and dissolve the sugar in it. Add the yeast and stir till mixed. Leave it for 10 minutes. The yeast water will get all frothy.

Mix the flour and salt in a kneading bowl. Add the yeast water knead it till a rough dough is formed. Add more warm water if required. Now add the olive oil and keep kneading until the dough becomes soft and elastic.

Coat the dough and the inside of a bowl with a bit of oil and cover with a cling film/moist towel and let it rest for about an hour.

 

After the dough has risen

Once the dough has risen to almost double the original size, punch a few holes in it and knead it again for a few minutes.

Divide dough in half and roll each half into a large, thin oval/rectangle.

 

Sprinkle the olive and garlic on top of the dough and lightly press it into the dough using the back of a spoon. Transfer to the cookie sheets, cover with plastic wrap and again rest for an hour. The dough will rise again and be puffy.

 

 Drizzle the olive oil, sprinkle the herbs and salt.

 

Preheat the oven at 180^oC and bake for 20 minutes or until Focaccia is golden brown.

Cut into half and serve while still warm.

 

 

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