Rosemary Focaccia Bread
If you are a bread lover then you will love this easy and delicious Rosemary focaccia Bread recipe. Focaccia is a flat leavened Italian bread that is baked. It is similar to pizza dough in texture so much so that in some places it is called pizza bianca. Focaccia can be served as a side along any dish or used as a sandwich bread. If you’re like me, I serve it alone with a really good dip of extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Focaccia bread can be made in any shape from square, round or rectangle.
Focaccia bread is made with simple pantry ingredients. It has flour (plain all purpose flour), oil, water, yeast and salt. It has more yeast in it than a pizza dough which allows it to rise more and become fluffier and more like a leavened bread.
Focaccia bread is an excellent source of folate, selenium, niacin, thiamin and phosphorus. Also, because it does not contain much sugar it is better for you than a regular bread. Eating focaccia versus regular bread will not result in a spike in blood glucose (just in case you are watching your sugar levels). If you are watching your fats, then you may want to have only one piece as focaccia does contain a significant amount of olive oil between the dough, pan and topping.
Eating and Storing
Although you can eat focaccia cold (room temperature), I must recommend that you eat it when it is fresh and hot, or at the very least warm. In Italy focaccia is a very popular “walking around” food. A hand-held delight, eaten hot and fresh from small local bakeries.
If you have extra focaccia and you don’t want to waste it then I recommend freezing it or making sandwiches out of it. Cut the focaccia into large squares then slice each square horizontally and fill them with your favorite sandwich meat, cheese or veggies. You can even grill them with a panini press or even just in a pan on the stove top (flip once).
Focaccia
Equipment
- 1 rectangular cake pan I prefer to use glass, but any will do. 9×13
Ingredients
- 3⅓ cup Lukewarm water
- 2 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp instant yeast (7g) *you can use active dry yeast as well since the dough has a long rise it will catch up
- 2 tsp salt
- 4 cups flour 613g by weight
- 1 Tbsp olive oil *plus more for the baking pan/dish and for the top
- 1-2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 1-2 tsp kosher salt for the top
Dip
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ⅛ cup balsamic vinegar
Chili Oil Dip
- 1 head fresh garlic, minced small
- 1 Tbsp Chili flakes
- ½ cup oil, hot
Instructions
For the Dough
- Pour the lukewarm water into a large bowl and add the yeast and sugar, whisk to combine
- add the flour, first amount of salt and 1T olive oil and stir to combine. The dough should look loose and shaggy.
- Cover with oiled plastic wrap and a towel and let rest for 4 hours. *If you don't use the plastic you risk the dough rising and sticking to your towel.
- after the 4 hours, heavily oil the bottom and sides of your baking pan with olive oil.
- Slide in your soft dough and spread it out to the corners. Poke the dough to make deep indents all over the top (do not push all the way through). cover and Let it rest for another 45 minutes
- Preheat your oven to 450°
- After 45 minutes drizzle the top with olive oil, chopped fresh rosemary, and kosher salt and bake at 450° for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
Balsamic Dip
- combine extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar and stir, then dip your warm focaccia in it to enjoy!
Chili Oil Dip
- mince garlic fine, add chili flakes and hot oil, stir to combine, then dip your warm focaccia in it to enjoy!
Freezing/Reheating Focaccia
Focaccia freezes well, so if you have the ingredients and time I suggest making two! One to eat hot and fresh and one to freeze for the days you want some fresh focaccia but don’t have 5 hours to spend waiting on it.
To freeze the focaccia just wrap it up well (once it’s cool) in plastic wrap and place in your freezer. To reheat focaccia, just thaw on your counter then place the unwrapped focaccia on a baking sheet in a preheated 375 degree oven until it is hot and crispy.
If you have cold focaccia that has not been frozen and you want to have it warm, then just wrap a piece in a damp paper towel and microwave it for 30 seconds. Check for temperature and if you want it warmer then just repeat for an additional 20 seconds. It will not get crispy, but it will get nice and warm.