Olive & Rosemary Wholemeal Focaccia
Making pizza dough is a regular Friday night activity around here, but sometimes it's fun to mix things up a little, and use the same simple recipe to make a focaccia. Especially delicious if it's studded with black olives and fresh rosemary sprigs.
One of the best things about this recipe is the speed - so if you suddenly need bread to go with dinner, you can make a heavenly-scented loaf in under 2 hours.
There is nothing like the aroma of freshly baked bread!
Olive & Rosemary
Wholemeal Foccacia
INGREDIENTS
250 gm bakers (or strong) wholemeal flour
250 gm wholemeal spelt four
2 teaspoons dry yeast
1 teaspoon raw sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon virgin olive oil
Approximately 300ml cold water
hanful black olives, pitted
Sprigs of fresh rosemary
METHOD
1. Tip flours, yeast, sugar and salt into bowl of kitchen stand mixer fitted with a dough hook & mix on low speed to combine.
2. With mixer running, tip in olive oil & slowly pour in cold water, until a soft consistency is achieved. (The amount will vary according to the weather - if the day is humid less water is needed, if it's dry you may need more.)
3. Knead the dough in the mixer at medium speed for 8 minutes.
4. Cover the bowl with a tea towel, and set aside in a warm draught-free spot for 30-45 minutes, or until the dough has risen approximately by double.
5. Sprinkle a baking tray with olive oil and smear it across the base with your fingers. Rub the leftover olive oil into your hands.
6. With oiled fingers, remove the dough from bowl and shape by hand into a long oval shape, stretching it as you place it on the oiled tray.
7. Lightly score diamond patterns into the oval dough, and stud some diamonds with olives and some with rosemary sprigs. Set aside for 10 minutes to rise again.
8. Meanwhile, preheat oven on a fan-forced setting to 220 degrees C. Place focaccia in oven and bake for 10 minutes, then lower heat to 200 degrees C and continue baking for another 20 minutes approximately.
9. To test if it's done, flip it over and knock the underside. If it sounds hollow, you're good to go.
You can use the same recipe to make a very good pizza dough - simply omit the sugar in that case. (The sugar is eaten by the yeast as it proves, which creates a fluffier dough for focaccia. It won't taste sweet, because it is simply an energy source for the living yeast dough. For pizza though, we skip the sugar to create a crispy, flatter crust.)
Served warm from the oven, this focaccia is fluffy and chewy - achieved by the combination of spelt and wheat flours.
The combination of flours results in a really delicious texture, but you can alternatively use whatever flours you have in your pantry. Spelt flour creates a very short texture, while the stronger baker's flour makes it chewy and creamy. We love this combination and use it for a lot of our yeast baking, but we've also got good results from using just baker's flour if we've run out of spelt.
And instead of rosemary, you could use fresh thyme or oregano - and omit the olives if you don't like them. If omitting the olives, sprinkle a little flaked salt on top instead. (We use the pink River Murray salt in all our cooking.)
