Focaccia with Red Onion and Kalamata Olives
CATEGORIES
INGREDIENTS
- Cooking Time: 25
- 6 cups of Bread Flour (Gold Medal Harsvet King - Bread flour, or equivelant, I think that a couple of flour companies even call it Artisan Flour to make it sound more Shee shee Poo poo)
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt
- 2 Packages Active Dry Yeast
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 1/4 cups lukewarm water
- 2 cups Pitted Kalamata Olives (Cut in Half either lengthwise or across, whichever blows your hair back)
- To Top:
- 3 Red Onions, Sliced in half and then into wedges like you would an apple)
- Olive oil for drizzling (About 1/4 cup)
- 2 TB Thyme leaves
- 2 tsp Pink Himalayan salt (Or Grey Sea Salt or Hawaiian Black Lava Salt or Red Coral Salt or Alder Smoked Salt, etc. -- Really any of the fancy salts available, whichever you like since it is for "Finishing")
DIRECTIONS
- Line baking sheets with parchment
- Whisk flour salt and yeast together in a bowl.
- Add olive oil and Warm water, then mix together to form a soft dough.
- Knead for 10 minutes on a lightly floured board.
- Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover and place in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours, until doubled in size.
- Knead dough for a couple minutes to "Punch Down".
- Knead 1 cup of the olives into the dough.
- Divide into 8 pieces and place on baking sheets.
- Poke dough with fingers to spread out and leave a dimpled effect.
- Sprinkle top of rounds with onions and remaining olives.
- Drizzle the tops with Olive oil.
- Sprinkle with artisan salt and thyme.
- Cover and let rise again for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden.
RECIPE BACKSTORY
This is my favorite focaccia recipe, it is extremely versatile. I use Gold Medal Bread Flour (Sometimes called harvest King) because it is a "strong" flour meaning it is mostly hard wheat containing a higher gluten content, thus creating the harder european style crust and a soft but chewing interior. You may also replace 2 cups of the "Bread" flour with 2 cups of Spelt (The original wheat before hybridization) although the texture of the bread will be a little different, and the crust will be softer. If you are a Kamut fan, well, due to the low/no gluten content you can only replace 1 cup of the "Bread" flour. I have not tried experimenting with Barley and Oat flour with this recipe as to me, it would no longer be focaccia at that point. This will make makes either 8 small or 4 large. I tend towards the smaller size since its a little more manageable in a sandwich situation.