Sourdough Focaccia
This sourdough focaccia is light, crusty, and chewy. It is delightful and a absolute favorite recipe at my house. One that can be modified from simple carbtastic side dish or snack to a show stopping centerpiece. I will generally make it just with some flaky salt. However if you dollop some pizza sauce or your favorite marinara sauce on top with a sprinkle of parmesan or mozzarella cheese, you have the pan pizza of your dreams. Pair with a light salad and a nice glass of wine and you have yourself a party. You can also sprinkle with hardier herbs like thyme or rosemary. Thinly sliced onion or other veg would also be nice. This is also what I do when I am making a loaf of sourdough and something goes wrong, like I let it over proof or the hydration just isn’t right. The recipe below is what I use when my intention is to make focaccia from the start but I will admit, if you know your sourdough loaf isn’t going to turn out, add some olive oil and just bake it off as focaccia. It might not taste quite the same as this one but it will be a heck of a lot better than a dense block of a sourdough brick.
You will need a kitchen scale for this recipe.
Ingredients:
80-100g sourdough starter
400g water
10g salt
20g honey (sugar or maple syrup also work)
550g flour (AP or bread)
olive oil
Recipe:
Pre heat oven to 450 F
combine starter, water, salt and honey into bowl. Mix a few times to break up the starter.
add flour and mix with a spoon until combined then knead a few times.
Let the dough rest 20-30 min
stretch and pull the dough from the edges a few times and let rest again another 20-30 minutes.
add 1 tbsp olive oil and stretch and pull. I will usually roll the dough over my hands a few times to make a smooth ball. Then add 1-2 tbsp olive oil on top and cover.
allow dough to double. If I prep this dough in the morning, it will be ready for dinner.
throughly oil a pan, I use a 1/2 sheet pan with a silicone mat for extra insurance against sticking but if you pan is fairly new you can skip the silicone mat. I have also baked this in a 1/4 sheet pan. It will be taller and fluffier. In the 1/2 sheet pan, it is thinner and crispier. If you are making the pizza option, I would use the 1/2 sheet pan. This step is very important because if you do not put enough oil in your pain, the focaccia with stick and you will not be able to get it out of the pan.
bake on middle rack for 20-30 minutes. This depends on your oven, the size of pan you are using, etc. I will set a timer for 20 minutes then check on the bread. It should be browned on the bottom and top and crispy but not burned.
allow to cool a few minutes in the pan before you remove it to cooling rack or cutting board.
Enjoy!!
https://youtu.be/yBQmI_Xy7nY
