Inspired by the classic Italian focaccia, this is a delicious bread that’s made in minutes and is great served with a big bowl of soup. I always use extra virgin olive oil for the best result, and do ensure that the dough is not too dry and overhandled, otherwise the bread will be heavy.
Feel free to put on top of the dough, before it goes into the oven, wedges of red onion, olives, roasted peppers, grilled aubergine slices or cheese.
Serves 8-12
Ingredients:
50ml extra virgin olive oil
450g plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
Half teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
400-425ml buttermilk (for dairy free, see tip below)
A few sprigs of rosemary, broken into small pieces
Sea salt flakes
25ml extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling over the top once baked
Method:
Preheat the oven to 230’C.
Brush the inside of a small Swiss roll tin generously with some of the olive oil. Sift the flour and the bicarbonate of soda into a large wide mixing bowl and make a well in the centre.
Pour most of the buttermilk in at once, leaving just a couple of tablespoonfuls behind. Using one hand, shaped like a claw, start in the buttermilk well in the centre and go in circles, clockwise or anti-clockwise to gradually mix in the flour from the sides of the bowl, adding the last bit of buttermilk if necessary. The dough should be soft and a bit wet and sticky.
When it all comes together, turn it out onto a floured work surface (I usually wash the dough off my hands at this stage) then turn the dough over in the flour once but making sure not to knead it in any way or you will make it tough, and gently roll it out so that it will fit into the Swiss roll tin.
Transfer into the tin using your two hands. Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the top, making dimples with the tips of your fingers, to make little wells for the olive oil to sit. Sprinkle with the rosemary tufts (pressing them gently into the dough so that they don’t fall off when the bread is baked) and scatter with the sea salt.
Bake in a hot oven 230C\450F\ gas mark 8 for about 25-30 minutes or until cooked. When cooked, the bread should be nice and golden on top and on the bottom.
If the bread gets a good golden colour and you don’t want it to darken any more, while cooking, turn the oven down to 200’C and continue cooking.
As soon as the focaccia is cooked, drizzle a little more olive oil over the top to make it glisten, this will soak into the bread leaving a delicious flavour and texture.
Allow to cool slightly before serving.
