Sourdough Focaccia
Bubbly, squidgy, an absolute delight.
This focaccia is a star. Yes, I really mean that. 100% sourdough and with the dreamiest texture. Set a couple days aside to make it - you will not be disappointed.
And in some VERY exciting news, I’m now conducting discovery calls with people who are interested in working with me 1:1 to heal their chronic symptoms - naturally, safely, and for long-term results.
The program made a huge impact on my life, and I’m SO excited to guide others through this journey too!!
I’m taking a very limited number of people for the beginning of June due to capacity - book a discovery call to find out if this is for you!
Since going on my own healing journey - which includes a big focus on healing the gut - I’ve seriously reduced my gluten intake. Now I’m at the stage where I’m gently reintroducing foods, including bread! Only caveat - it needs to be sourdough. Enter this gorgeous, dare I say it, PERFECT focaccia.
This is an 85% hydration bread, which means there’s a lot of water in it - which helps create that soft, moist crumb. There’s also 20% levain (otherwise known as freshly fed starter) which is pretty standard for a longer-prove bread which will require an overnight fridge prove. This recipe is easy enough, but the process does need to be broken down into several key steps to ensure the fluffiest, tastiest focaccia:
A 2-hour autolyze (mixing the flour with just the water before everything else so that the flour absorbs the water and gluten begins to develop)
Adding in the salt one hour after the levain so that the yeast and bacteria cultures can start to ferment the dough without the interference of the salt
A 4-hour bulk proving period, with gentle folds at half hour intervals to balance out the gluten development without knocking out fermentation
Another 2-hours prove at room temp, followed by an overnight fridge prove
A LOT of olive oil, not all of which gets incorporated into the dough - meaning you’ll have pools of oil in the tray as you go to bake it which results in very crispy edges
The process overall takes 3 days, although the majority of the work happens the second day. Sourdough is a long affair - you just can’t rush quality.
I use a stand mixer which considerably facilitates the process but you can definitely do it by hand no problem! Both set of instructions are included.
Give it a try and let me know how it goes!
Sourdough Focaccia
Ingredients:
500g strong white flour
425g water
100g levain
12g fine sea salt
175g delicious olive oil
Instructions:
The night before: make your levain with 20g starter and 40g flour/40g water - I use whole wheat bread flour for a bit of bite but you could also do white bread flour. Cover and let rise overnight.
1pm (the next day): autolyze the flour and water by mixing in a stand mixer for 5 minutes on medium speed. Or, mix by hand thoroughly until no flour patches remain for about 6 minutes and to continue developing gluten.
3pm: Add the levain and mix in the mixer for 3 minutes. Or, mix by hand for 5 minutes so that the levain is thoroughly incorporated.
4pm: Add the salt over the surface and mix in the mixer for 3 minutes. Or, mix by hand for 4 minutes so that the salt gets thoroughly incorporated.
4:30-6pm: Every half hour, perform 2 sets of folds by hand - gently pull a corner of the dough up, scooping up from the middle, and fold over the rest. Do this four times in each direction for one set. 2 sets mean 8 pulls total.
6:30pm: Add the oil over the dough and this time perform 4 sets of folds (so 16 pulls). The oil will not fully incorporate and will pool at the top; this is fine.
7-8pm: Continue performing 2 sets of folds every half hour until your last one at 8pm.
8-10pm: Let the dough rest at room temperature for 2 hours, untouched.
10pm: Grab a baking tray and a piece of parchment large enough to line the inside of the tray with an overhang. Take 2 tbsp of the oil pooling on top of the dough to grease the tray, then line the parchment over the greased tray. Dump the dough and oil into the lined tray, and gently push the dough from the middle outwards so it fills in the corners. Do not pull - just push the dough out by dimpling it from the middle. Cover the tray with cling film, a plastic bag, or aluminum foil and fridge overnight.
The next morning: Preheat the oven to 220c. Take the dough out so it comes up to a warmer temp while the oven preheats.
Dimple the dough all over to make those fermentation bubbles pop out, dipping your fingers in the pools of oil before so they don’t stick. Top with flaky sea salt, and pop in some sprigs of rosemary, thyme, or oregano into the dimples, pushing them in deep.
Bake the dough for 20-25 minutes, until the top is brown and blistered. Let cool for at least 30 minutes before tucking in!
Learn to Ferment with Me!
Lactic Fermentation - May 11th, 3-6pm at the Hornbeam Cafe in Walthamstow
Lactic Fermentation - June 22nd, 3-6pm at the Hornbeam Cafe in Walthamstow
Nice! Try this with Einkorn or Sonora White, whole grain, for a really tasty low gluten experience.