Summer Focaccia Ligurian Style
This recipe is adapted from Samin Nosrat's Ligurian Focaccia with decorating tips from Terri Culletto, the original Van Dough Focaccia Art. The salty brine is the extra touch of the Ligurian Focaccia and topped with beautiful herbs and vegetables make this recipe a delicious and beautiful work of edible art.
Equipment
- 2 Mixing Bowls
- Rubber Spatula
- (2) 9 x 13 inch rimmed baking sheet pans OR or ceramic / glass baking dishes OR (1) 18 x 13 inch rimmed baking sheet pan
- Pizza stone or extra sheet pan (to keep the bottom of the focaccia crispy)
- For decorating: Chopsticks, Toothpick, BBQ stick or skewer clean tweezers
- Kitchen towels, wet and dry
Ingredients
Focaccia dough
- 2 1/2 cups lukewarm water
- 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
- 2 1/2 tsp honey
- 800 g All purpose unbleached flour 5 1/3 cups
- 18 g Morton's Kosher Coarse Salt measures a scant of 1 tbsp 3/4 tbsp if using fine seasalt
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Extra Olive Oil
- 2 tbsp olive oil to coat the dough before the ferment divided
- 2 tbsp olive oil to coat the sheet pan additional if using parchment paper
- 2 tbsp olive oil to brush AFTER the bake
Decorative Herbs and Vegetables (see blog for a wider range of option)
- Herbs: basil leaves, rosemary, chives, scallions
- Edible flowers: daylilies, ginger, herb flowers (oregano, ginger, pineapply sage)
- black olives
- green olives
- mushrooms
- red tomatoes
- yellow bell peppers
- poppy seeds
- red/purple onion
Optional Lemon Water Dip for herbs (water plus few drops of lemon)
Instructions
Dough Prep & Ferment
- Bowl 1: Mix water, yeast and honey. Let it form bubbles for 10-15 minutes.
- Bowl 2: Mix flour and salt together using your hand or a rubber spatula.
- Then add mixture from bowl 1 (yeast mixture) and olive oil. Stir until all ingredients are just incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
- Cut the dough in half (I just eyeball it). Put the other half in the other bowl. Coat each dough with a tablespoon of olive oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave to ferment in room temp (21-23C | 70-75F).Adjust fermentation time depending on the room temperature and anticipated bake time.
Fermentation Cook Notes
- 12-14 hours fermentation if room temp is between 70-75 F or 21-23 C6-8 hours if room is warmer than 23 C18-24 hours if in the fridge + 2-4 hours to bring it to room temp
- Visual Key is that the dough doubles in size
Prepare your Design for the two focaccia doughs
DOUGH THE NEXT DAY (AFTER 12-14 HOURS)
- Spread 1 tablespoon evenly on the rimmed baking sheets.Note: If using ceramic, add parchment paper then brush the paper with olive oil.
- Gently tip the bowl onto the baking sheet. Use a rubber spatula or hand to encourage release of dough. Careful not to break the bubbles.
- Gently spread the dough across. Stretch the dough by putting your hand underneath the dough and gently pulling it towards the edge edge of the sheet.The dough will shrink. Don’t force the stretching. Do this in intervals of 15 minutes. So you will do this two more times before decorating, a total of 3 stretches.
The Brine
- Dimple the dough by pressing the pads of your fingers at an angle.
- Make the brine by stirring together salt and water until salt is dissolved.
- Split brine in two then pour over each dough.
Proof and Decorate (30-40 minutes)
- Carefully place the veggies according to your design. When you are happy with your design, go back and press it down with toothpick or tweezers or toll that works for you. Press down or it will pop out during the bake.
Bake
- Last 30 minutes before the bake, set oven to 450 F. On the mid-rack, place a pizza stone or another sheet pan upside down as substitute. This makes the bottom crust crisp.
- Bake for 10 minutes on top of the upside down sheet at 450F.Then at the last 12-15 minutes, lower heat to 375F.
- Remove from oven and brush with 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil. Let cool for 5 minutes then release focaccia from pan.
Serve
- Serve immediately while warm or at room temperature.