The Estate Bakery
Focaccia Bread
The Strategy:
This recipe aggressively utilizes a staggering amount of high-quality olive oil to essentially shallow-fry the bottom of the dough while it bakes. By violently dimpling the intensely soft, heavily hydrated dough with your fingers, you create massive pools for the oil, flaky salt, and deeply aromatic herbs to collect. The result is a fiercely golden, wildly textured artisan flatbread that boasts a shattering, fried bottom crust and a violently soft, airy crumb.
Ingredients
- 1 (.25-ounce) package active dry yeast, 2 ¼ teaspoons
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 cup olive oil, divided
- 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated
- 2 teaspoons flaky salt
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
Instructions
- Add the yeast and sugar into a small bowl. Stir in 1 ¾ cups warm water. Set the bowl in a warm place until the yeast is bubbling and fragrant, about 15 minutes.
- Place the flour, salt, ½ cup of olive oil, and the yeast water into the bowl of an electric mixer. Use a spatula to bring everything together.
- Once the dough comes together, use the dough hook attachment to knead the dough until smooth.
- Stop the machine and check the dough every couple of minutes. The dough should be smooth and elastic, hold its shape around the dough hook, and spring back when you poke it with your finger. This takes anywhere from 3 to 5 minutes using the mixer. If you are kneading by hand, knead until you can’t knead anymore!
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Knead it by hand for an added 30 seconds. If the dough is too sticky, you can sprinkle with more flour.
- Form the dough into a ball and transfer to a bowl that has been lightly coated with olive oil. Cover with a clean towel and set in a warm place to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. I use my oven’s warming drawer for this step.
- Pour the remaining ½ cup of olive oil onto a (17 x 12 x 1-inch) jelly roll pan.
- Transfer the dough to the pan, stretching it out to fill the pan.
- Turn and coat with oil on both sides.
- Use your finger to make indentations in the dough. These will be the “nooks and crannies” to hold the seasoning in the next step.
- Set the dough in a warm place to rise again for 1 hour. Yep, the warming drawer is still the best place!
- Preheat your oven to 400°.
- If you choose to decorate your bread, this is the time! If not, you can simply sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, flaky salt, thyme, and rosemary.
- Drizzle with a bit more olive oil. Bake until the top of the bread is golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes. Cool the bread in the pan before cutting it into squares.
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The Heart of the Table
Dropping a massive, heavy iron jelly roll pan completely filled with wildly glistening, intensely aromatic focaccia directly onto the table instantly commands the entire room. The fierce, deeply savory smell of toasted rosemary, dark baked Parmesan, and rich, hot olive oil forces guests to eagerly reach out, aggressively tearing off massive, violently soft golden squares with their bare hands.
Neighborly Grace
- THE PRESENTATION: Do not carefully slice this bread into neat squares in the kitchen. Present the massively hot, heavily oiled iron pan directly on a rustic wooden board. Provide small, elegant bowls of intensely dark balsamic vinegar and aggressively peppery, bright green olive oil for immediate, heavy dipping right at the table.
- THE POUR: The fiercely rich, intensely oily notes of the fried crust and sharp Parmesan demand a wildly bright, highly acidic pairing. A sharply chilled, aggressively dry Pinot Grigio or a deeply crisp, heavily iced Italian Pilsner perfectly slices through the rich oil while elegantly highlighting the toasted herbs.
- THE VIBE: Deeply authentic, highly energetic coastal afternoons. This is the wildly satisfying project you execute for a loud, late coastal lunch, served directly from the roaring hot metal pan to the sun-drenched dining patio, demanding an atmosphere of incredibly relaxed, deeply Mediterranean, and fiercely unpretentious indulgence.
