Focaccia Bread
Focaccia is a flatbread originally from Italy. It is said to be the predecessor of pizza. It is often flavored with olive oil mixed with herbs 🌿. This bread is a regular in my home, not just because of its great taste—crispy when hot and chewy when cold—but also because it’s low in sugar and fat, making it very healthy. I picked a couple of sprigs of fresh rosemary from my garden and mixed it with my homemade oil-preserved cherry tomato with herb-infused olive oil from last summer. The aroma of the herb-infused olive oil combines with the high-temperature baked bread and wheat fragrance, resulting in crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. Once you start eating it hot, you just can't stop…
Ingredients
Steps
First, let’s talk about oil-preserved cherry tomatoes. These were harvested from my backyard last year and then air-dried.
They were then mixed with extra virgin olive oil along with garlic slices, dried rosemary, sea salt, and sealed for preservation. This is the oil-preserved cherry tomato herb olive oil. It’s homemade and tastes amazing when used for baking bread or tossing pasta 😋.
Now, let’s make the focaccia bread. Knead the high-gluten flour, whole wheat flour, salt, sugar, yeast, and water into a dough. Then add 30g of oil-preserved cherry tomato herb olive oil into the dough and knead until uniform.
No need to knead until the dough reaches full elasticity, just until it’s smooth. I usually knead bread dough by hand, but you can also use a mixer if you prefer. This bread dough has a high water content and is easy to knead. Place the dough in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let it proof in a warm place.
While the dough is proofing for the first time, prepare the toppings for the bread. Wash the cherry tomatoes and cut them in half. Cut the black olives in half. Wash the fresh rosemary. Place them all in a bowl, then pour in some oil-preserved cherry tomato herb olive oil, mix, and set aside.
The first proofing is complete when the dough has doubled in size.
Line a baking tray with an oil-coated sheet. Spread herb olive oil on the sheet—not just to prevent sticking but to enhance the flavor of the crust during baking. Rub some olive oil on your hands before placing the proofed dough onto the tray. Press and spread the dough flat onto the oiled sheet.
Use your fingertips to press small dimples into the dough's surface.
Brush with herb olive oil and arrange the prepared cherry tomatoes, black olives, and rosemary on the surface. Let the dough rise for the second time.
When the second proofing is complete, preheat the oven to 200°C. Bake in the middle rack at 200°C for 25 minutes or until the bread surface turns golden.
After baking, let it cool until warm, then cut into pieces. It tastes especially delicious at this point.