Italian🍞 Bread & bakery

Focaccia

Name: Focaccia
Total time: 2 h 10 min
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 2 Idaho potatoes; 6 cups bread flour or unbleached all-purpose flour; 2½ tsp salt; 3 cups tepid water; 3 tbsp olive oil; 2 tsp active dry yeast; ~2 tbsp olive oil; 3 tsp dry oregano; ¼ cups extra virgin olive oil; ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes; ¾ cups pitted oil-cured olives; to taste kosher or coarse salt; ~2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

⏱ 130 min

Grandma Gina's traditional Italian focaccia recipe. The dough is made with mashed potatoes, then topped with sun-dried tomatoes, oil-cured olives, oregano, and olive oil, and baked until golden and crispy.

Adapted from a video by Buon-A-Petitti

Italian Grandma Makes Focaccia

Watch on YouTube

Ingredients

Idaho potatoesmedium, about 8 oz2
bread flour or unbleached all-purpose flour6 cups
salt2½ tsp
tepid water3 cups
olive oilfor dough3 tbsp
active dry yeast2 tsp
olive oilto grease baking pan (18×13×1 inch)~2 tbspest.
dry oreganoto 4 tsp3 tsp
extra virgin olive oil

Steps

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1
Cook potatoes in boiling water until tender, then drain and mash thoroughly.
2
Pour flour into a large bowl and mix in salt first.
3
Make a well in the center of the flour and add the mashed potatoes.
4
Add a little warm water and mix the potatoes into the flour.
5
Add yeast and olive oil, then mix in the remaining water and flour, kneading until the dough is smooth.
6
Use your fingertips to gently pat and work the dough surface until even and smooth.
7
Place the dough in an olive oil-greased baking pan, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour until doubled.
8
Remove the plastic wrap and gently press your fingers across the dough surface to deflate it slightly and flatten it a bit.
9
Drizzle olive oil over the dough and press your fingertips across the entire surface to distribute the oil and create dimples.
10
Cover the dough again with plastic wrap and let it rest for about 20 minutes.
11
While the dough rests, prepare the toppings by mixing sun-dried tomatoes with olive oil.
12
Remove the pits from the olives and set the whole olives aside.
13
Remove the plastic wrap. Dip your fingers in olive oil and gently press the dough surface again, especially the edges and corners.
14
Drizzle extra virgin olive oil all over the dough surface.
15
Distribute the sun-dried tomatoes evenly across the dough and sprinkle with oregano.
16
Arrange the oil-cured olives across the entire dough surface as desired.
17
Drizzle olive oil all over the surface again to coat all the toppings.
18
Sprinkle coarse salt over the top to taste.
19
Let the focaccia rest for about 10 minutes until the surface shows plenty of bubbles.
20
Optionally drizzle a bit more oil if desired, then transfer to a preheated oven and bake until golden brown.
21
Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a cooling rack before serving.

Focaccia

Ingredients

Steps

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