Do you love baking bread at home? If so, this is a must try recipe. If you havent yet tried baking bread at home, but really want to, then this recipe is for you too. It's a very basic and simple bread recipe.
If you are a regular here, you must know my love for breads. There was a time, I used to bake breads regularly, then somehow that phase got over. I wanted to get back to bread baking and this looked like a great recipe to start with. I was very happy with the result and it was a great motivation for me to get back to the “bread baking phase”.
Focaccia is an Italian bread with toppings of different variety. IT's similar to Pizza bread in texture. You can top it with any toppings of your choice like herbs, sun dried tomatoes, olives, cheese etc; You can eat it on it's own by dipping it in some good quality Olive oil or you can have it with some soup or salad.
We had it with some Italian herb Dripping Oil and Sundried Tomato Dipping oil. Check out the “notes” section on how to make homemade dipping oil.
If you like homemade breads, check out this White Sandwich Bread, Honey Oats Bread , Pizza recipes.
Here is the recipe…
Heat water until warm (about 105-115 degrees). The water should feel just warm and comfortable, not hot. Pour the water into a large bowl and add yeast, stirring with a fork until it dissolves in…
Add to this 2 1/4 cups flour, 2 tablespoons of very soft butter, and the salt. Mix until a soft dough forms…
Then turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Knead the dough with a [url:1]push turn[/url] method, dusting with flour when needed to keep the dough from sticking to the surface. While kneading the dough, add in additional flour about a tablespoon at a time or until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. This should take about 5-10 minutes of kneading…
Place the dough into an oiled bowl and cover greased plastic wrap. Let the dough rest 10 minutes…
After resting, place the dough onto a greased baking sheet. Using your hands, pat the dough into about a 12 inch circle. Cover again with greased plastic wrap. Place in a warm spot and let the dough rise until it has doubled in size (about 30-45 minutes.)…
Heat the oven to 375 / 190 C degrees.
When the dough has risen, using your finger tips, poke 1/2 to 3/4 inch deep holes throughout the dough, spacing the holes about an inch or 2 apart. Brush the top of the dough with the melted butter, making sure to get some on the top of the foccacia bread and down in the holes as well. Spread the minced garlic on top and sprinkle italian seasoning…
Sprinkle shredded cheese. Place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until nice and golden brown. Serve hot…
Recipe from here
Please read the “notes” section, before proceeding with the recipe.
Ingredients
- Focaccia
- 1 cup Water (refer notes)
- 2 tbsp Unsalted Butter (softened)
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 1/4 – 2 2/3 cup Plain flour
- 2 1/4 tsp Instant yeast
- Topping
- 2 tbsp Unsalted butter (melted)
- 1/2 tbsp Minced garlic (refer notes)
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1/3 cup Asiago (You can also use Parmesan, or Romano cheese )
Instructions
- Heat water until warm (about 105-115 degrees). The water should feel just warm and comfortable, not hot.
- Pour the water into a large bowl and add yeast, stirring with a fork until it dissolves in.
- Add to this 2 1/4 cups flour, 2 tablespoons of very soft butter, and the salt. Mix until a soft dough forms, then turn the dough out onto a floured surface.
- Knead the dough with a push turn method, dusting with flour when needed to keep the dough from sticking to the surface. While kneading the dough, add in additional flour about a tablespoon at a time or until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. This should take about 5-10 minutes of kneading. Place the dough into an oiled bowl and cover greased plastic wrap. Let the dough rest 10 minutes.
- After resting, place the dough onto a greased baking sheet. Using your hands, pat the dough into about a 12 inch circle. Cover again with greased plastic wrap. Place in a warm spot and let the dough rise until it has doubled in size (about 30-45 minutes.)
- Heat the oven to 375 / 190 C degrees.
- When the dough has risen, using your finger tips, poke 1/2 to 3/4 inch deep holes throughout the dough, spacing the holes about an inch or 2 apart. Brush the top of the dough with the melted butter, making sure to get some on the top of the foccacia bread and down in the holes as well. Spread the minced garlic on top and sprinkle italian seasoning and shredded cheese. Place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until nice and golden brown. Serve hot.
Notes
For kneading the dough, please click on the video link given in the recipe.
I baked my bread at 175 C, for 25 – 28 mins.
I minced the garlic with a pinch of rock sea salt.
If you dont have Italian seasoning, you can add 1 tbsp of any dried herbs like Parsley, rosemary etc;
Homemade dipping oil recipe – add some dried herbs like rosemary, oregano, basil and salt, pepper, red chilli flakes and minced garlic to some extra virgin love oil. Mix well.