Rosemary Garlic Focaccia Recipe
Father’s day is coming up in a couple of weeks and I am scrambling to figure out how to celebrate with my dad. My parents hate celebrating mother’s day/father’s day on the actual weekend because restaurants are always super busy and service is generally not as good as normal due to the additional patrons the restaurant has to attend to.
So instead of fighting the crowd, I always have to end up celebrating with them a week in advance. Since I’m busy next weekend, I have to celebrate 2 weeks early. My dad loves it whenever I make him anything from scratch – I guess he appreciates the extra effort and care I put into the dish other than just giving him something material…. Which works for me because this gives me an opportunity to practice my cooking and baking skills.
As part of the full course meal which I planned for him, one of the starting dishes was of course, warm bread 🙂
Since the weather has been getting warmer, we bought a lot of starter plants to build our herb garden. As they continue to grow, I needed an excuse to use them so I can trim them back to increase their yield. I immediately thought of making this Rosemary Garlic Focaccia because I had it in the past and it was delish.
The great thing about focaccia is that it is very versatile – you can add whatever toppings you like.
Prior to allowing the dough go through a second proof, use both hands and dimple the dough with your fingers to evenly spread the dough out and give it its signature dimple appearance. Then, generously season the dough with coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. I thinly sliced up some garlic and sprinkled it all over the dough, along with some freshly chopped rosemary. Finally, I generously drizzled the dough with some olive oil. The bread cooks best when the herbs are coated in olive oil.
When ready to bake, I placed it in a 425F oven with a small baking tray filled with 1 cup of hot water to help develop a nice crust on the bread with the steam that it will be generating. Bake it for about 25 minutes or until golden brown.
Rosemary Garlic Focaccia Recipe
Ingredients
- Olive oil dough
- 1 1/3 cup + 1/2 tbsp lukewarm water (100-108F)
- 1/2 tbsp + 1/4 tsp dry active yeast
- 1/2 tbsp coarse sea salt
- 1/2 tbsp sugar
- 1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cups all purpose flour (have an extra 1/4 cup of flour ready in case the dough is still too sticky)
- Toppings
- 3 springs of fresh rosemary, chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, sliced
- drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
- light sprinkle of garlic powder
- coarse sea salt + freshly ground black pepper (season to taste)
Instructions
- 1. Mix the yeast, sugar, olive oil, and lukewarm water in a mixing bowl. Wait 5 minutes to allow the yeast to activate - you'll know it's ready when it looks really foamy at the top.
- 2. Add in the salt and slowly add in the flour, 1 cup at a time. Knead with your hands or use a dough hook on your stand mixer.
- 3. Continue adding the remaining 2 cups of flour a bit at a time until all the flour is incorporated. If the dough is still sticking to the side of the bowl, add the remaining flour. Knead for 5 mins or until the dough is tacky to the touch (i.e. dough does not stick to your finger when you touch it)
- 4. Form the dough into a nice round ball and grease with some olive oil. Allow to rise for an hour or until double in volume.
- 5. Punch down the dough to release the gas and shape it into a round loaf again. Allow the dough to rest for 5 mins to allow the gluten to relax.
- 6. Using both hands, press the dough down onto a silpat or parchment paper until the dough is in a rectangular shape (you can shape this however you want). Use your fingers to make dimples into the dough - this will help stretch the dough as well.
- 7. Once you have all the dimples, sprinkle on the toppings (rosemary, garlic, olive oil, garlic powder, salt & pepper). Allow to proof again for another 20-30 minutes or so.
- 8. While you are waiting for the dough to proof again, preheat the oven to 425F.
- 9. When the dough is done its second proof and your oven is preheated, put the dough into the oven. Also put a small square baking pan with 1 cup boiling water beneath your baking sheet and quickly shut the oven door.
- 10. Bake for 25 minutes or until bread is golden brown.
