This recipe appeared in Christopher Kimball's Milk Street recently as Tomato and Olive Focaccia. "This recipe recreates the light, open-crumbed focaccia we ate in Bari, Italy. To achieve that texture, the dough must be wet--so wet, in fact, it verges on a thick yet pourable batter. The dough is gently poured and scraped into the oiled baking pan, gravity settles it into an even layer."
It's easy to mix and fun to watch. It starts rising immediately and moves constantly throughout its five hour rise. This is the lava lamp of the bread world!
And texture? I have made various focaccia over the years, but none better. This one is as they describe above, but also super moist yet crunchy. Oh, and I love, just love, this tomato and olive version (liberally sprinkled with oregano, salt & pepper) but of course you can do your own thing. I'm making one today for happy hour with friends and will be using artichoke hearts from a jar (because they don't eat tomatoes or olives). The fact that they're oily wouldn't be an advantage anywhere else but in fact it will be here--this recipe calls for 8 Tblsp of olive oil.
And it's so easy! Using a Kitchen Aid with dough hook, the basic dough takes only a few minutes of initial preparation time. Later, about 5-10 minutes of final prep gets it ready for the oven.
Here you go:
500 grams (3 2/3 cups) bread flour
5 tsp instant yeast
1 tsp white sugar
2 cups water at cool room temp
8 Tblsp olive oil, divided (I found a total of 5-6 sufficient)
1 3/4 tsp salt, divided
1 c cherry tomatoes (I used sugar plums, which are less juicy, and will use two cups when I do this again on Sunday), halved
1 cup castelveltrano olives, pitted and halved
1 tsp dried oregano
3/4 tsp ground pepper
In a standard mixer with dough hook, mix the flour yeast and sugar on medium until combined, then drizzle in the water. Increase speed to medium and mix until the ingredients form a very wet, smooth dough, about 5 minutes. (Having made this twice now, I found it more effective to add the water by hand to the dry ingredients with a spatula, then put the bowl on the stand for better incorporation.) Turn off the mixer, cover the bowl and let stand for 10 minutes.
Sprinkle 1 tsp of salt over the dough then knead on medium until smooth and elastic, about five minutes more. Scrape the dough into a rising bowl coated with 2 tblsp of the olive oil, and dot the top of the dough with the oil that pools up the sides. Coat completely. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let stand at room temp for 5 1/2 to 6 hours**; during this time the dough will double in volume, deflate, then rise again (but not back to the original double volume).
After the dough has risen for about 4 1/2 hours** heat the oven to 500F with a baking steel or stone on the middle rack (I didn't bother). Mist a 9x13 metal baking pan with cooking spray, then pour 2 tblsps of oil in the center of the pan and set aside.
When the dough is ready (**I found the instructions above conflicting--I called it at five hours, which was perfect both times I made it), scrape the dough into the baking pan with a silicone spatula trying to retain as much air in the dough as possible. The dough will eventually settle into an even layer--do not spread it yourself, as this will kill the gas bubbles.
In another bowl squish the tomatoes lightly with a potato masher and pour off the juice, then season with the remaining salt. Scatter the dough with the oregano and pepper, then lightly press the tomatoes and olive pieces into it. Sprinkle with additional olive oil. Bake at 500F until golden brown, 18-20 minutes. After removing from the oven, let it rest about five minutes before relocating your loaf to a wire rack for further cooling.
