Quarantine Diaries - Late Night Focaccia!

Hi! I wanted to introduce you to someone very special! His name is Yanis and he is a German Shepherd & Mastiff mix. We adopted him last year from our local kennel.

He is very much enjoying this quarantine, as it means extra attention for him.

Something that I’ve been enjoying doing this week is Focaccia. The spongy, rich bread that you can basically pair with anything.

I have made the most ‘typical’ version above, with rosemary, but I also recently made one with olives and garlic.

So here goes the recipe for a very easy focaccia that you can start making just 2 hours before meal time.

Easy Focaccia:

-       ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

-       4 garlic cloves, chopped

-       1 tbsp fresh thyme (chopped)

-       1 tbsp fresh rosemary (chopped)

-       ¼ tsp fresh ground black pepper

-       1 cup lukewarm water

-       1 cube of fresh yeast

-       ½ tsp of honey

-       1 cup flour

-       1 ½ cups flour

-       ½ tsp salt

First, we combine the yeast, honey and lukewarm water in a bowl. Mix it together with a wooden spoon and let alone for 5 minutes, until you can hear it bubbling.

In the meantime, you will heat up the oil, garlic and herbs in a small skillet until you can start to smell the herbs more intensely.

Once the 5 minutes have gone by, remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool. Now you will add 1 cup of flour to the yeast mixture, alongside a few spoonfuls of the oil mixture. Next let this rest for 15 minutes.

After the 15 minutes, you will add the remaining flour and the salt. At first use your wooden spoon, until everything seems well incorporated and cohesive. Now toss the dough onto an oiled work surface and knead it only 10-15 times, until the dough is nearly smooth. Form into a ball and place in an oiled glass bowl. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel or some wrap and leave the dough to rest for 1 hour, preferably somewhere slightly warm

Once the hour is over, oil your pan well and put the dough in it. Use your fingers to poke into the dough, so little mountains form in the dough. Pour the remaining infused oil mixture on top of the dough and poke it some more. Let the dough rest for another 15 minutes covered whilst you preheat the oven to 180 °C.

Once the 15 minutes are over, place the focaccia in the oven and expect it to be in there for 30-45 minutes, but check your oven at the half an hour mark.

Last night we didn’t have any of the fresh herbs, so I decided to use green olives and the garlic instead of the herbs for the topping. It came out just as delicious!

Lots of love,

Lucía