Our recipe is perfect for newcomers to bread making. No mixer, kneading, or tricky shaping skills are required. Just a little stirring and folding of ingredients is all that is necessary to produce an impressive flatbread with a deliciously crispy-fried base.

For Topping:

Equipment

Instructions

Day 1 - In the Evening

Mix and Ferment the Poolish. Set up the Proofer, fill the water tray half full with water and set the temperature to 75° (24°C). In a large bowl, use the dough whisk to mix the starter ingredients until well blended and smooth. It should have the consistency of a thick batter. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and put the poolish in the Proofer to ferment for 12 hours.

Day 2 - In the Morning

Mix and Ferment the Main Dough. Set the Proofer to 80°F (27°C) and check that the water tray is filled. Add all of the main dough ingredients to the bowl of fermented poolish and mix thoroughly with the dough whisk. The dough will be very wet and sticky. Scrape down the sides, place the bowl of dough into the Proofer, and allow to rise for 2 hours.

Alternative Timing: If you would like to bake the focaccia in the evening, after the poolish has fermented overnight, cover and refrigerate it. Remove the poolish from the refrigerator 30 to 60 minutes before mixing the dough and place it in the Proofer at 75°F (24°C) to remove the chill. Proceed with the mixing, folding, and baking directions as written. It will be warm, fragrant and fresh from the oven at dinnertime!

Poolish after fermenting overnight

Folding the focaccia dough

Fold the Dough. During the 2-hour rise, put the dough through three folding sessions, ideally about 30 minutes apart. For each session, leave the dough in the bowl and use an oiled spatula to gently lift and fold sections of dough. Turn the bowl 90 degrees after each fold, folding and turning the bowl a total of 8 times in each folding session.

Get Ready to Bake. After the last folding session, preheat the oven to 500°F (260°C) and place a rack in the lower third of the oven. If your pans don’t have a non-stick coating, line the bottoms with parchment. Pour half the olive oil into the pans and spread evenly to coat the sides and bottom.

Divide and Rest the Dough. If using two 9″ (23 cm) round pans, scrape the sticky dough onto a lightly floured (or oiled) surface. Using an oiled sharp knife, divide the dough into two halves. With oiled hands, gently tuck the edges under to shape them into two balls of dough. Place each ball in a round pan, turn to coat with olive oil, and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

Alternatively, if using one 9 x 13″ (23 x 33 cm) pan, scrape the dough out onto the oiled pan. Coat the top with a little olive oil and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

Stretched dough is ready in 9″ cake pans.

Double batch of focaccia in 12×18 sheet pan.

Shape the Dough. With oiled hands, gently stretch the dough out toward the edges of the pans. If the dough resists stretching, let it rest 5 minutes and then continue to stretch it out to the edges. Spread the remaining oil and all of the salt evenly over the dough, and add rosemary if desired. With oiled fingers, dimple the dough deeply all over, pressing down until your fingers just touch the bottom of the pan.

Bake the Focaccia. Load the focaccia into the oven and reduce the temperature to 450°F (232°C). Bake until golden brown on both the top and underside, about 20 minutes. If necessary, rotate pans halfway through baking for even browning. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove the focaccia from the pan and allow to finish cooling on the rack.

Focaccia cooling on wire rack.