Focaccia
Liguria gift to the bread world: a dimpled golden flatbread glistening with olive oil and scattered with sea salt crystals. Fingers pressed into the risen dough create wells that pool with fragrant Ligurian olive oil.
- 3.5 cupsbread flour
- 1.5 tspinstant yeast
- 1.5 tspkosher salt
- 1.5 cupswarm water(about 110°F)
- 0.5 cupextra-virgin olive oil(divided)
- 2 sprigsfresh rosemary(leaves picked)
- flaky sea salt(for topping)
Dough requires overnight rise. Baked focaccia keeps 2 days wrapped at room temperature, or freeze up to 1 month. Reheat in 350°F oven.
- 1Whisk flour, yeast, and salt in large bowl
- 2Add warm water and 2 tablespoons olive oil, mix until shaggy dough forms
- 3Cover and let rise at room temperature 8-12 hours or overnight
- 4Pour 3 tablespoons olive oil into 9x13 baking pan, spreading to coat
- 5Transfer dough to pan, turning to coat in oil
- 6Stretch dough gently toward edges - it will spring back
- 7Cover and let rise 2 hours until doubled and puffy
- 8Preheat oven to 450°F
- 9Dimple dough all over with fingertips
- 10Drizzle remaining olive oil over top, scatter rosemary
- 11Sprinkle generously with flaky salt
- 12Bake 25-30 minutes until golden brown
The overnight rise develops complex flavor and creates an airy, irregular crumb. Don't skimp on olive oil - it creates the crispy bottom and tender interior. Dimple aggressively - the holes hold olive oil. Flaky salt is essential for texture contrast.
Focaccia traces its origins to ancient Rome, where it was known as panis focacius, meaning "bread of the hearth" — from the Latin focus, which signified both the hearth fire and the center of the home. The earliest versions were unleavened flatbreads of flour, water, oil, and salt baked directly on hot stones or ashes. Britannica notes the basic recipe may have originated with the Etruscans, an ancient civilization that flourished in central Italy from around 700 BCE. As Roman legions moved across the Mediterranean, they carried the recipe throughout their empire. The word focaccia first appears in written records in the 14th century, but the bread itself is far older. The modern Genoese iteration — called fugassa in the local Ligurian dialect — is the most celebrated form, marked by its signature finger-dimpled surface. Wikipedia confirms the dimples are called ombrisalli in Genoese dialect, and they serve the practical purpose of trapping pools of olive oil and salt brine during baking. When Genoa was a powerful maritime republic during the Middle Ages, focaccia became a standard provision for sailors on long voyages. The "Focaccia Genovese" collective trademark was established in 1996 to protect the original recipe, which requires only flour, water, extra virgin olive oil, yeast, sea salt, and malt extract.