Water, flour, extra virgin olive oil, yeast and salt. Like many other traditional Italian recipes, focaccia is an example of simple goodness. With just a few ingredients, to be handled with love, you can get a result that’s crunchy and soft at the same time, perfect for a snack, but also to accompany lunches and dinners. But if you’re in Liguria, where focaccia is so important (and good), then you can make a whole meal out of it.
Whether you’re strolling in the square of Portofino, basking in the sun on the beach in Santa Margherita Ligure, or roaming the alleyways of Genova, you’ll run into many people holding a piece of good-old plain focaccia. Wrapped in a sheet of wax paper, that fresh bread fragrance filling the air, it’s all you long for when you’re hungry and hankering for something savory.
To be as good as the Ligurian one it should have a golden, crunchy and slightly oily surface, while its heart is light and savory and sits on a well-cooked base. Its flavor changes from bakery to bakery depending on their choice of flour and oil, on the quantity of water, salt and yeast used.
The recipe?
This is the recipe if you want to get a result similar to Ligurian bakeries. The ingredients listed are very simple to find, but if you really want to make something special, choose a strong flour (that is, one with a high protein content).
For two large focacce (the size of a sheet pan):
2 lbs white flour
1 oz salt
13 oz water
4 oz extra virgin olive oil
½ oz malt extract
2 oz brewer’s yeast block
Dissolve the yeast in warm water, add the malt extract, then knead with the flour and let rest for 15 minutes. Flatten the dough with a rolling pin and put it on the sheet pan. Let it rest for another 15 minutes. Use your fingers to make some dips on the surface, sprinkle with salt, then let it rise for another hour or so in a warm, moist place. Mix the oil with 4 oz of water and distribute this blend on the surface of the focaccia, letting it pool in the holes that you made with your fingers. Bake for 15 minutes in a 480° F oven.
Suggestions:
A home oven often doesn’t get as hot as the recommended temperature, so monitor the degree of browning of the crust once the recommended baking time has elapsed and decide whether to continue baking or not.
The thickness of the dough on the pan must not exceed an inch. When you are rolling it out, keep below this thickness so the focaccia can rise without getting too tall.
Making the dips in the dough is a delicate operation that has to be executed without making actual holes all the way through. By pressing hard with your fingertips you can make regular and evenly spaced dips.
In order to avoid having a part of the focaccia come out softer or unevenly cooked it’s important to distribute the oil and water mixture over the surface of the focaccia very evenly. The best technique is to spread it with your hands or to use a brush.
To favor the correct rising of the dough, the water has to be between 86 and 104° F.
Choose the brewer's yeast carefully. It has to be dry and crumbly and have no stains.
In order not to compromise the yeast, add the salt once the other ingredients have been mixed.