Rosemary Focaccia

When I was living in the Bay Area, I tried my first focaccia from the Liguria Bakery in North Beach, San Francisco. They bake and serve the best focaccia, and they have quite a range of flavors too. You can get pizza focaccia, mushroom, garlic, rosemary, all the way to raisin!

And if you cannot wait until you reach your home to start chowing down, you can ask the staff to cut the focaccia in thin strips, so you get to eat while you walk.

Now that I no longer live in the Bay Area, it’s next to impossible to get focaccia as good as the ones from Liguria. I have been using this recipe to fix my focaccia craving. It always yields very decent focaccia, though I know it can never hold a candle next to the ones from Liguria. :D

Ingredients for rosemary focaccia

Focaccia is a simple bread, and you don’t need fancy ingredients to bake one. You will need all-purpose flour, kosher salt (or sea salt), sugar, instant yeast, and extra-virgin olive oil.

I am adding rosemary since it’s my favorite flavor when it comes to focaccia, but you can leave it out if you don’t have them.

NOTE: If you don’t have kosher salt/sea salt, and you are replacing it with table salt, you will need to use half the amount in the recipe.

Knead the dough and the first proof

Sift together all-purpose flour, sugar, instant yeast, and kosher salt into a large mixing bowl.

Make a well, then add water and 1/2 cup olive oil. Knead with a dough attachment on low speed until the dough comes together.

Increase the speed slightly to medium and knead for another 5 minutes until it becomes smooth and soft. Add a little bit of flour if the dough feels too sticky.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface, and knead with hands into a smooth and non-sticky dough. Add more flour only if the dough feels sticky.

Lightly coat a mixing bowl with about a teaspoon of olive oil, and place the dough in the bowl. Cover with a plastic wrap/wet kitchen towel and let it rise until the volume doubles, about 1-2 hours.

Shape the dough and the second proof

Punch the dough to release air bubbles, and knead for a couple more time.

Coat a half sheet pan (13"x18") pan with 1/4 cup of olive oil. Transfer the dough onto the pan, flip to cover both sides of the dough with olive oil.

Gently stretch the dough to fit the pan. Don’t forget to use your fingers to make holes throughout the entire dough to give the characteristic craggy look of focaccia.

Let the dough rise again until it fills up the pan. It will take about another hour for this second rise.

Baking and serving focaccia

Preheat the oven to 220 Celsius (425 Fahrenheit) near the end of the second rise.

Sprinkle the top of the dough with about 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of coarse sea salt, chopped rosemary, and a tablespoon of olive oil.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.

Remove the focaccia from the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes in its pan. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Cut and serve once the focaccia is at room temperature.

I like to cut the focaccia into 16 equal pieces and serve two pieces per person.

Storing focaccia

Focaccia freezes beautifully, so it is never a bad idea to bake a batch of a half sheet pan even when you are living alone.

Wrap each piece individually with saran wrap and follow with aluminum foil, and freeze for up to 3 months.

To reheat for serving, remove the saran wrap, rewrap with the aluminum foil, and heat in a 180 Celsius (350 Fahrenheit) oven for about 10 minutes to return them to a soft and fluffy state.