Fresh Milled Sourdough Focaccia
The perfect soup dunking bread that can be mixed and baked on the same day
Hello. I am sending this as we are winding down family vacation and getting ready to hop on a plane to Denver, our midway stop between my hometown in Southern Oregon and the coastal region of Southeast Virginia. I am so grateful for the past ten days spent with family and reminded again what a priceless investment it is to make time and space for one another.
As we head into fall and routines, I thought I would share a sourdough focaccia bread that is fast and simple to make - much more so than an artisan sourdough loaf. You can make this recipe up to 48 hours ahead of time by putting the dough into the fridge after the bulk ferment.
My favorite flavor for focaccia is roasted garlic and rosemary, but the topping options are wide open, so feel free to use your creativity and let me know what you come up with! This recipe is perfect for dunking in soup, or can be cut horizontally and made into sandwiches.
The basic baking schedule is:
9am: mix the dough in the stand mixer
9:15-11:15: stretch and fold 3-4x
4pm: press into parchment lined baking sheet + roast garlic
5pm-5:30pm: bake
Fresh Milled Sourdough Focaccia bread
Makes 1 sheet pan of bread - this is the same recipe I use for pizza dough!
TOOLS
Stand mixer or Bowl
Sheet Pan
Kitchen Towel
Foil and parchment for roasting garlic
INGREDIENTS
500 g fresh milled flour - my favorite blend is 50/50 hard white and kamut
400 g room temp water
100 g sourdough starter
10 g salt
1 Tbsp olive oil to coat the bowl
METHOD
Combine all ingredients, except the olive oil, in the bowl of a stand mixer. Knead with the dough hook attachment, or by hand, for 5-7 minutes. Dough should all come to the center of the bowl, cling to the dough hook, and be sticky but smooth. Add the 1 Tbsp olive oil to the bowl of dough and using a bowl scraper or rubber spatula, coat the entire surface in olive oil. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes. Stretch and fold the dough, then cover again. Repeat the stretch and folds 1-2 more times, then let the dough sit undisturbed in a warm place on the counter for 4-5 hours. It will look puffy and like it has expanded by almost double when it’s ready to press into the baking sheet. If not baking right away, move the bowl of dough to the refrigerator.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and drizzle with olive oil. Dump dough out onto baking sheet and press toward the edges with fingers. Once the dough is spread out, cover with a towel, and let it sit at room temp for about an hour.
Preheat the oven to 400º and prep the Roasted Garlic: Tear a sheet of parchment and match the size with a piece of foil and stack them, parchment side up. Cut the top off a garlic bulb, set it on top of the parchment paper, and drizzle with olive oil. Wrap the foil tightly around the parchment and garlic bulb and bake in the oven for about 40-50 minutes, until garlic cloves are soft and caramelized. Now turn the oven up to 450º.
Squeeze the garlic cloves out of the skin and into a small bowl along with rosemary and 1 Tbsp olive oil. Completely coat the rosemary and garlic with olive oil, as this will keep it from burning when baking on the focaccia.
Make dimples in the top of the focaccia by dipping your fingertips in water and pressing them into the dough. Now add the rosemary and garlic to the surface of the dough, along with a generous drizzle of olive oil. Bake for 30-35 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through. Best eaten right away, or wrap/store an airtight container for to 2-3 days. Reheat in a toaster oven or on a buttered skillet.
