Italian Bread Recipe

Ingredients:
3 cups (350 g) white bread flour
1 package (¼ oz/7 g) fastacting dry yeast
½ tsp salt
6 fl oz (175 ml) warm water
2 fl oz (50 ml) olive oil

To finish:
1 tbsp olive oil
Coarse sea salt for sprinkling

Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl, add the salt, and stir in the yeast with a large metal spoon. Lightly oil a baking sheet to prevent the focaccia from sticking.

Make a well in the center of the flour with the large metal spoon. Stir in the warm water and olive oil until the mixture starts to come together to form a smooth dough.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Return to the bowl, cover with a clean, damp dish towel, and leave to rise in a warm place for an hour.

“Punch down” the dough to remove the large air bubbles, then place on a lightly floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll out to an 8” (20 cm) circle just over ½ in (1 cm) thick.

Place the rolled-out dough on the oiled baking sheet and cover with a clean, damp dish towel. Leave the dough to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400˚F (200˚C). Using your fingertips, make dimples all over the surface of the risen dough and drizzle with the olive oil.

Sprinkle the dough with the sea salt. Place in the oven on the middle rack. Bake for 20–25 minutes until risen and golden. It’s delicious when eaten warm!

Variation 1:
For rosemary focaccia, mix 2 tbsp (30 ml) chopped fresh rosemary into the dough at Step 2. Add 1 cup (100 g) of freshly grated Parmesan in Step 2 for cheese focaccia.

Variation 2:
For sun-dried tomato or olive focaccia, stir in 1/3 cup (50 g) olives or sun-dried tomatoes in oil, (drained and roughly chopped) at Step 2.