Focaccia is a great bread for entertaining. We often serve it in small slices, accompanied by a good extra virgin olive oil and white balsamic vinegar for dipping.
A simple way to make focaccia is with the basic bread dough. Allow the dough to complete its first rise, then flatten it out and fit it into a parchment lined tray. The photos here show a focaccia made with a half batch of dough which produced a 20cm (8″) square of bread.
Allow the dough to rise for about half an hour, covered with greased clingfilm. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 250C (480F). When the dough has risen enough, drizzle a thin coating of olive oil over the top and sprinkle it with some good sea salt (we used Maldon flakes). It’s hard to tell from the photo below, but the dough had risen quite a bit – it was thicker and puffier than it was in the top photo.
Spread the oil and salt out a little, then push your fingertips into the dough, right to the bottom of the pan. This is what gives the bread its distinctive dimpled appearance.
Put the bread into the hot oven, lowering the temperature to 220C (430F) and bake for 20 – 25mins, rotating the bread once during the baking time. Viola! Smile graciously when people tell you how clever you are!
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