Tuesday, February 2, 2021

Sourdough Focaccia with Garlic and Onions

 

Today, I bring you Sourdough Focaccia! Have you ever tried to made focaccia? My only other attempt was a long while ago and it wasn't great.  I'm sure it was baker's error.  I've been seeing some very tempting sourdough focaccia photos on Instagram lately, and since I still have a lively sourdough starter from the start of the pandemic, I decided to give focaccia another try. Oh my, this was delicious!  Even my husband commented on how good it tasted. 

I served the focaccia as an accompaniment to soup that night but it would be a delicious accompaniment to any pasta dish or hearty salad.  You can also slice it in half horizontally and use it to make sandwiches.   

The recipe I used for this focaccia is adapted from @Breadtopia on Instagram and you can find the recipe on the Breadtopia blog. Included on their website is a yeast version if you don't have a sourdough starter. 

In ancient Rome, panis focacius was a flatbread baked in the ashes of the hearth.  The Latin word for hearth was 'focus' = 'focaccia'.  Focaccia spread across many countries....focaccia in Italian cuisine, hogaza in Spain, pogácsa in Hungary, and fougasse in Provence, among others.  


If you have an active starter, you will be as impressed as I was with the formation of bubbles in this recipe.  Sourdough baking can be a long process, as there is no yeast involved, but with this recipe, I had the focaccia in the oven within six hours after mixing the dough in the morning. 

It helped to use my oven as a proofing box, preheated only with the oven light turned on.  My oven light warms the oven to about 80-85 degrees Fahrenheit. If you have an oven thermometer, you can test how warm your oven gets with just the light on.  You don't want it to get warmer than 95F or you could kill the starter or yeast, if using.  If the oven light method doesn't work I've also read about using a pan of warm water on the bottom oven shelf. Or, you may want to try the 'overnight' version included in the recipe.  


I wanted to make a simple but flavorful topping for my first attempt at sourdough focaccia so I sprinkled freshly chopped green onions and chopped fresh garlic over the top before baking.  There are many other ways to top focaccia with some of the most popular choices being rosemary, olives, basil, sage, tomatoes and cheese.  


There is quite a bit of olive oil used in making and baking focaccia so you'll want to use a good tasting extra virgin olive oil. Olive oil is also used to coat the bottom of the baking pan which gives the bottom a nicely browned crust as well.  


Sourdough Focaccia

Adapted from Breadtopia

Note: A digital kitchen scale comes in very handy.  I use mine all the time for baking to get more precise measurements.    

400 grams bread flour (about 3-1/2 cups)
75 grams whole wheat flour (slightly more than 1/2 cup)
345 grams water (1-1/2 cups)
143 grams sourdough starter (1/2 cup)
15 grams honey (2 tsp)
13 grams olive oil (1 Tbsp)
11 grams salt (2 tsp)


Additional coarse salt for sprinkling on top before baking,
Toppings of your choice (I used 4 chopped green onions and 2 large cloves of chopped garlic)

Make the Dough and First Proof:

Add all of the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on low speed for about 2 minutes with the paddle attachment, and medium speed for another 8 minutes with the dough hook, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula a few times. If necessary, you may mix by hand the same for the same amount of time. 

Move the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover. Note the time as the beginning of the first rise. (bulk fermentation). This is when I first put my dough into the oven with only the oven light turned on. 

After the dough has rested for 30 minute rest, either stretch and fold, or coil fold the dough four times (every 20-40 minutes) over the next 2-3 hours. Wet your hands before handling the dough, and cover the dough afterward. Here is a YouTube video showing both folding methods.  I put the dough back in the oven after every fold, which lasted 2 hours. 

Next, allow the the covered dough to continue rise undisturbed (using oven light warmth, if possible) for 2 more hours until it has almost doubled and is bubbly. 

Final Proof:

I used a non-stick 9 x 13 inch baking pan but you can also use a 13 x 18 inch pan which will yield a thinner focaccia.  If your pan is not non-stick, line it with parchment paper  Pour about 2 tablespoons of olive oil into the bottom of the pan and cover the entire bottom and sides of the pan, or parchment, with the oil.   

Scrape the dough gently into the pan. With oiled fingers, push and press the dough out to the edges of the pan.  Dimple it with oily fingertips.

Cover the pan with plastic wrap or put it inside a large, plastic grocery bag, trying not to let the plastic touch the dough.  

Let rest 1-2 hours at room temperature (or overnight in the refrigerator, plus another 2-4 hours to warm up in the morning). The dough should look thicker and have some bubbles when the final proof is over.

Topping and Baking 

Place a flat baking sheet or pizza stone one rack up from the lowest oven rack. Preheat the oven to 450F for 20 minutes with a baking sheet and 30 minutes with a pizza stone.  

Drizzle 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil on the top of the dough and dimple it again. Add toppings and finally sprinkle it with coarse salt.

Place the focaccia pan in the oven on top of the hot baking sheet or pizza stone. Bake for 15 minutes, rotate the pan and bake an additional 10-15 minutes. The internal temperature of the focaccia should be at least 200F. 

Remove the focaccia from the pan and parchment, and let cool on a rack for about 20 minutes before serving. Leftovers can be wrapped in parchment. 

22 comments:

  1. Yum! I can see a nice loaded focaccia as a Super Bowl snack too! Yours looks great and I wouldn't mind some right now:@)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a great idea, Lynn! I guess we Wisconsinites will have to root for Kansas City now :)

      Delete
  2. That crust and crumb are beyond perfect, Susan. I would love tear a huge chunk and dip into some quality olive oil and smeared with some roasted garlic...my..I am drooling already.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Angie! I was so pleased with how it turned out and next time I'm going to roast some garlic to spread on it. Yum!!

      Delete
  3. We love focaccia bread and yours looks delicious Susan. Love your idea with proofing the dough just using the light in the oven. Great tip!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, A&L! The oven light proofing works great! I have an oven thermometer that has settings down to 50F so I was able to keep close watch on the temperature.

      Delete
  4. Warm, homemade focaccia is hard to beat.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Keep the sourdough recipes coming lol..It looks beautiful..I started making focaccibagain this past yr ..a lot..whenI discovered the Shockingly Easy No Knead one😊Yours looks perfect!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll try :) I tried to Google focaccibagain but couldn't find anything. No knead is always good and you make them wonderfully. Thank you, Pea!

      Delete
  6. How wonderful that you’re still baking with the starter, Susan! I’ll bet your focaccia was absolutely fabulous. I’ve lately been using the hot water method below my rising dough. I also tried a heating pad. Many people with instant pots, use them for proofing dough, but that’s something else to clean! Happy baking, Susan!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I make almost every week with it, Kitty, thanks to you! My starter is still doing great. Usually, I bake either the sourdough country white bread or sourdough honey whole wheat bread, or either sourdough coffee cake or blueberry muffins. Now, that I've tried this recipe, it will be made often too, especially if we have soup or stew for dinner. Yes, we need a little help proofing these days with the chilly weather! Glad to know you like the hot water method! Thanks, Kitty. ♥

      Delete
  7. This must have been wonderful. I didn’t do the sourdough thing during the pandemic. I guess there’s still time, but honestly I don’t want that much wonderful bread near me! One thing you might want to do next time is add a brine to the top. I did that when I made Samin Nosrat’s recipe that I saw her making on her show. It’s an actual salty water that you pour on top before baking. And wow it turned out amazing. Between that and your sourdough, you could start a business! If you want exact amounts from her recipe, just search for focaccia on my blog.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Mimi, it was so delicious! The bread is a temptation but I find that my starter can keep in the refrigerator for about a week so I don't feel the need to bake all the time. The salty water brine sounds so interesting! I will definitely head over and take a peek at the recipe.

      Delete
  8. Love this, Susan! It looks delicious! I've never made focaccia but you've inspired me to give it a go. I don't have a starter but do have yeast, and I like the simple toppings of onion and garlic. The bread will definitely be eaten up quickly here with a good bowl of soup for these cold days. Thanks for the recipe! Take care

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can't wait to find out how the yeast version works! The onion and garlic topping was perfect with soup. Not too overpowering at all! Thank you, Pam!

      Delete
  9. Looks amazing! I think I'll make it for my dad - Garlic and Onions are the pillars of his cuisine.
    Amalia
    xo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is so funny about the pillars of cuisine :) Hope your dad loves it as much as we did. Thank you, Amalia!

      Delete
  10. Susan I love focaccia and this looks absolutely amazing!! take care my friend ! xo

    ReplyDelete
  11. You are just rocking the bread world! This sounds amazing and I love focaccia. But sourdough and garlic and onions put this right up my alley. I really need to try my hand at sourdough!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Abbe! Being homebound most of the time during Covid and now our Siberian winter weather, it's been a fun hobby to feed and bake with sourdough.

      Delete

I appreciate your comment!