Sun-dried tomato & olive focaccia

My mum always sends me a care package from Greece every 2-3 months including goodies like honey, olive oil (well duh) and my favourite snack….olives! This time she got a bit excited and sent me let’s say enough to feed the nation (although not sure an olive diet would be a balanced one!). I blended some kalamata olives together with sun-dried tomatoes, capers and olive oil to a paste to enjoy it as a snack on toasted bread. But I didn’t want to stop there! Focaccia is one of the first breads I ever made working as a young pastry chef in an Italian restaurant and it is to date one of my favourites. I decided to add some of the paste to my go to focaccia recipe and the result was more than satisfying. The bread not only was softer because of the addition of paste that added moisture, the earthy combination of salty  olives, sun-dried tomatoes and capers made me want to book a one way ticket to Italy. Don’t be intimidated by its fancy name focaccia is probably one of the easiest breads you can make especially if you are an amateur baker and just starting out.

Ingredients for the sun-dried tomato and olive paste

• Sun-dried tomatoes: Sun-dried tomatoes will add a salty and wonderful flavour to the focaccia.
• Olives: As much as I love olives I have to admit that I absolutely hate pitted ones as all the flavour of them comes from the pit. Get your hands on some good quality olives and simply remove the pit. I used my favourite black Kalamata olives but you can use any olives of your choice.
• Capers: Capers add a floral, tangy and salty flavour to the focaccia. Make sure to not add any of the brine to the paste!
• Extra virgin olive oil: As you know most of the flavour of the focaccia comes from the olive oil so do make sure to use the best you can and preferably Greek!
• Salt (if needed): I didn’t specify how much salt to add to the paste as my paste was salty enough and didn’t need any. As every one of the elements individually is quite salty make sure you taste the paste first before adding any salt.

Ingredients for the focaccia

• 00 flour: 00 flour is lower in protein than British flours and so produces a much crispier crust in bread.
• Bread flour: Bread flour is higher in gluten which means better structure, softer and fluffier focaccia. Together with the 00 flour they make the ideal mix for most bread recipes.
• Salt: I normally add two teaspoons of salt in my focaccia but as the paste itself is plenty salty, 1 teaspoon is the perfect amount.
• Fresh yeast: As far as yeasts go fresh is the best as it has the highest moisture content of any form of baker’s yeast, but also the shortest life. If you can’t get your hands on any you can simply replace with 9g of dry yeast.
• Extra virgin olive oil: We will need olive oil for the dough while it is rising to prevent from sticking, but also for oiling the tray and drizzling more before baking. It is about 2-3 tbsp in total.
• Fresh rosemary: You can’t have focaccia without rosemary right?! 1 large sprig of rosemary is enough to cover the surface of the focaccia.
• Rock salt: A good pinch of rock salt on the surface of the focaccia before baking is always a must and really helps to make the top crispy.

For the sun-dried tomato and olive paste

• 50g sun-dried tomatoes
• 50g good quality olives
• 50ml extra virgin olive oil
• 8g capers
• Pinch of salt (if needed)

For the focaccia (makes one 35cmx24cm tray/serves 12)

• 260g bread flour
• 260g 00 flour
• 300ml tepid water
• 1tsp salt
• 18g fresh yeast
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Rock salt
• 1 large sprig rosemary

How to make the sun-dried  tomato and olive paste

1. Gently press the olives against a chopping board to release the pit.
2. In a food processor place the sun-dried tomatoes, pitted olives, capers and olive oil and whiz all the ingredients together until smooth.
3. Adjust the seasoning to taste.
4. Set aside until needed.

How to make the focaccia

1. In a bowl of a standing mixer with the dough hook attached add both flours and salt and mix for about 30 seconds. Blend the yeast into lukewarm water (the temperature of the water can be anywhere between 30°C to 35°C) using a fork until no lumps remain.
2. Add the yeasted liquid to the flour, together with the paste and mix on medium speed for about 15 minutes. The dough should be smooth and not be sticking to the sides. The dough is ready when you can stretch it with your hands as thin as you can without it tearing (*see Notes).
3. Fold the edges of the dough underneath so that you have a smooth rounded ball. The top side will be the surface of the focaccia. Grease the bowl with about 1 tbsp of olive oil to prevent the dough from sticking to it. Put the smooth, top side of the dough head-first into the oiled bowl and turn to coat the top and the sides with oil. (This will prevent a crust from forming and stop it sticking.) Cover with clingfilm or place a tea towel over the bowl and leave it in a warm, draught-free spot for about an hour , or until it has doubled in size.
4. Preheat the oven to 200°C fan. Next slide the dough onto an oiled baking tray or roasting tray (Mine was 35cmx24cm but anything slightly smaller or bigger is fine too.)
5. Gently ease it out from underneath, trying to keep a good rounded edge. Then use your fingertips to make indentations in the dough, flattening into a rectangular about 3cm thick. Drizzle over the remaining oil, but no salt yet. Break sprigs of rosemary off the main stem and tuck into the dough (*see Notes).
6. Return the dough to rise in its warm place until it is about half as high again, 20-40 minutes. When it has risen use your fingertips gently to press more indentations into the dough and sprinkle with the rock salt. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown. After the top is golden carefully remove the focaccia from the oven and using a spatula remove it from the tray and transfer to a wire rack that fits in your oven and bake for a further 5 minutes. That way your bread will have uniform golden brown colour and crispy crust (* see Notes).
7. Spray the focaccia with a mix of water and olive oil (about 10 ml of each) while it is still hot so it absorbs it better (*see Notes).
8. Allow to cool on a wire rack.
9. Focaccia is best eaten the same day but if you want to eat it the next day, allow it to cool then wrap in clingfilm to stop it from drying out.
10. Enjoy 🙂

Notes

• The best way to make sure the gluten is developed is to stretch a small piece of the dough into a square creating a ‘window’- if the dough gets very thin and translucent and doesn’t tear in that window, the gluten is well developed. This is called the windowpane test!

• Make sure to really push the rosemary into the dough and partially cover them. If you leave the sprigs of rosemary sticking up they burn and do not offer any flavour to the bread.
• This is actually a tip that I learned from when I was working in an Italian restaurant. The bakers would take the focaccia out of the tray after 15 minutes and transfer to a wire rack and finish baking to ensure a golden crust throughout the bread.
• This is another tip I learned when I was working with Italian chefs, they taught me that by diluting the olive oil with some water and ideally spraying or drizzling it on the focaccia just after baking, the focaccia will keep moist and fresh for longer.

Meringue kisses,
Athina xx