How to make Sourdough Focaccia

About a month ago while I was searching google for recipes that I could use my sourdough starter with I came across a blog. I’m pretty sure I had seen this particlular blog before but somehow I had missed the sour dough recipes.

Sarah’s Musing’s is a beautiful blog full of great recipes. Stop by her blog and check it out! At the top of her page you will find a link to all of her recipes.
update 2011 Sarah has stopped updating her Sarah’s Musings blog and has moved over to Heartland Renaissance. You can find her Sourdough Focaccia recipe there.FYI this is still my favorite focaccia recipe and I make it all the time with a few changes of my own as far as toppings and adding some dried pepper flakes to the dough itself for a nice spicy taste to the dough.

Sourdough FoccaciaIn a bowl, combine the following ingredients to form a sponge:1-1/2 Cups sourdough starter (always feed your starter the day before you are going to bake and stir before measuring)
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tablespoon honey
1 cup flourAllow sponge to ferment and bubble for about an hour until bubbles of differing size are on top.

Add to sponge:

1/2 cup olive oil
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons fine sea salt

Mix ingredients together and turn out onto a floured board, kneading for 5-7 minutes. Depending on the hydration of your starter, you may end up adding 1/4 – 1 cup of flour while kneading. The dough will be soft and slightly moist from the oil and the kneading. Form into a ball and place in an oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled, about 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

Using a large, rimmed baking sheet, add 1/4 cup olive oil to the bottom of the pan, swirling to cover the bottom and sides. Once dough is risen, gently press dough down and then place your dough in the prepared pan. With your fingers, press dough into the bottom of the pan until it fills the pan. If your dough is very elastic and pulling away, allow it to rest for about five minutes and then continue.

Cover with a kitchen towel and allow to rise until roughly doubled in size, about an hour.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Farenheit. Once dough is ready, lightly dock dough with your fingers all over, leaving little impressions. If the dough is a little dry on top, brush on a bit more extra virgin olive oil and then sprinkle with coarse sea salt (mine was not dry; extra olive oil had spilled over onto the dough when I pressed the dough into the pan so all I did was sprinkle with salt. You be the judge of your dough.)

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from heat and allow to cool in it’s pan on a rack.

Allow to cool at least twenty minutes before eating it.

Each time I made this recipe I followed her instructions, using the same toppings she used and it turned out wonderful. The flavor is unbelievable.

I will say this……… I do not get a big rise from my dough. I have thought about starting the sponge the night before to see if it would make a difference but the focaccia turns out so great I forget to do it each time I make it.

Yesterday when I made it I tweaked the recipe a tiny bit.  I added about a teaspoon of dried red pepper seeds to the dough. That is why you see little red flecks in my dough. In the original recipe the pepper flakes are sprinkled on top. As you eat the bread some of the pepper flakes fall off and I was looking to add a little more heat to the focaccia so I added some to the dough.

For my toppings I used, sea salt, more red pepper flakes, dried Rosemary, mozarella cheese and parmasan cheese.

It was great. I usually make this for an afternoon snack.  But next time I cook Italian I am going to have to remember to make it instead of garlic bread.