This really is a crowd pleaser and works with any meal outside.
Ingredients
Any herbie salsa that you like, blended with garlic, copious olive oil and sea salt
500g strong white bread
350g water
50g olive oil
20g semolina (coarse)
30g fresh yeast
20g salt
Method
Measure the flour out into a bowl. Crumble the fresh yeast into the flour on one side of the bowl till it resembles a crumble mixture, then add the salt to the flour on the other side of the bowl. The reason we do this is that if the yeast and salt mix directly, it inhibits the natural process of the yeast.
Measure the olive oil and the water for accuracy and add to the flour mixture.
Use your dough scraper to mix it all together in the bowl. Then gently turn out onto your surface and start the ‘flipping over, thumping down’ process to get air into the dough.
Continue this process for 5 minutes, until your dough resembles ‘the belly of a nun, who has never seen the sun’.
Place a tea towel over the dough, and let it prove in a draft free place for an hour or until it has doubled in size.
Grease your flat tray, once your dough has proved, gently ease it out of the bowl with the help of your dough scraper. Shape it gently into a rectangle, at this stage try not to stretch the dough but let it keep its natural shape.
Using three middle fingers, press dents into the dough. Pour olive oil over the dough and into the holes and let it rest for another 30 minutes.
Once it looks light and puffy, sprinkle salt on top. Place in the hot oven. While your Foccacia is in the oven, chop the rosemary and sprinkle on the bread for the last 10 minutes before you take it out. If you add the Rosemary from the start it usually burns.
Bake in your oven at 220 degrees for 22 - 25 minutes. Once you take it out, add your herbie salsa as soon as possible so that the crust soaks up the olive oil.
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