A good focaccia has a crisp top and a light, soft crumb flavored with olive oil and toppings of your choosing. This focaccia is leavened with sourdough starter and it couldn't be easier.
Day 1, Mix the Dough: Combine the dough ingredients above in a bowl and mix well. Cover and let sit for thirty minutes to one hour.
Stretch and Fold: Perform four stretch and fold sessions every thirty minutes over the course of two hours. One stretch and fold session involves picking up one portion of dough and folding it over itself, giving the bowl one quarter turn, taking a portion of the dough and folding it over itself again until you've done four fold overs, one complete rotation. Cover the dough.
Bulk Fermentation: After the stretch and fold sessions, continue with bulk fermentation until the dough has risen roughly 50%, a little more or less is fine. The total bulk fermentation time will depend on dough temperature. Below 75ºF it could take more than two hours after the last stretch and fold session.
Overnight Cold Retard: After bulk fermentation you can transfer your dough to the refrigerator (make sure it's properly covered with a bowl lid or plastic. (Alternatively, you can skip this step and move on to the final proof step. You can also extend the cold retard longer than overnight. You can final proof and bake on Day 3 if you wish.)
Day 2, Final Proof: Drizzle two to three tablespoons of olive oil and spread to coat the inside of a quarter baking pan. Take the refrigerated dough and transfer it to the oiled pan. Gently flatten and spread the dough to the edges of the pan. The dough will be cold and spring back so you can cover, let it rest and try again in a few minutes. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rise until bubbly on top. This could take one to two hours.
Add Toppings and Bake: Preheat your oven to 425ºF. When your dough looks airy and bubbly on top, remove the plastic wrap and spritz the top of the dough lightly with water. Drizzle a few more tablespoons of olive oil over the top and press the dough with your fingers to create dimples. The dimples should be deep enough so their impressions remain after baking. Sprinkle a little salt over the top, arrange the tomato slices and olives and sprinkle the fresh rosemary. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the surface of the focaccia is lightly crisp and golden. Serve warm.
Sourdough Starter: For this recipe, I feed my starter in the morning and mix the dough around midday. If you want to mix the dough first thing in the morning, I recommend feeding your starter the night before so it's ready in the morning.
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