Sourdough Focaccia with Rosemary, Avocado, Goat's Cheese and Balsamic Dressing

 

Whenever I bake Sourdough Rosemary Focaccia and then eat it, enjoying its crunchy crust, and savouring its unique sourdough and rosemary flavours all over again, I wonder why I don't make it more often. It really is the easiest bread to bake, faster to rise than most loaves, and with so much potential to be served in so many interesting ways. The target rise required for Focaccia bread isn't as great as for normal bread, so it's going to be faster to make which is perfect during our Summer. I've also used a very small amount of baker's yeast in this recipe to ensure the dough requires minimal kneading and will conveniently rise and bake on the same day, unlike most sourdough loaves which require overnight fermentation.  Fresh in season avocado, delicious soft goat's cheese, and a Balsamic Vinegar Gourmet Glaze was the perfect lunchtime topping for my latest loaf. 

With the party season just around the corner, Focaccia is the perfect choice of carbohydrate to add to a cheeseboard for easy entertaining.  However, this post is about a lot of deliciousness for either breakfast, brunch or lunch, or a healthy dinner on the run. 3 days after I had baked this loaf to enjoy with our friends J and D, I toasted slices and spread them with fresh avocado, soft goats' cheese (my favourite cheese), and topped it all off with some delicious Balsamic Vinegar Gourmet Glaze. I'm not going to say that you have to bake your own Sourdough Focaccia, and if you already bake sourdough bread, you have probably already baked a Focaccia or two.  A Focaccia loaf can be made with normal baker's yeast, and good quality Sourdough Focaccia can now be purchased at farmer's markets and bakeries however it can be expensive. It's much more economical and fulfilling to bake your own. I've written up the method below for how to make your own focaccia using normal baker's yeast, as not everyone has access to fresh sourdough yeast. 

 I give a lot of credit for this topping idea to my foodie friend Julia. She and her adorable husband came over for a very casual dinner, and I gave her half of the leftover focaccia to take home, along with a couple of small homemade meat pies. This recipe makes a large Focaccia tray measuring 40 cm x 30 cm. The following day she sent me a photo of the Focaccia topped with avocado, goat's cheese and this delicious Balsamic Vinegar Gourmet Glaze, which of course I went out and purchased a soon as I could. Most conversations Julia and I have, inevitably lead to talking about food. Do you have a special foodie friend like that? 

Simple Topping ingredients:

1 perfectly ripe avocado, mashed

1 small packet soft Goats Cheese

1 bottle Balsamic Vinegar Gourmet Glaze

I really don't think the method for the avocado topping needs much explanation. The photo tells the story. Serve with a small side salad or even some Tomato relish or a Fruit chutney as well. I used baby spinach leaves, small cherry tomatoes from our garden, and few blueberries. Delicious.

Let's Bake some Sourdough Focaccia Bread:

This is how I make my Sourdough Rosemary Focaccia Bread. There are also plenty of recipes around for how to make this with instant yeast if you don't have a sourdough starter which will still be delicious. To substitute instant powdered yeast for sourdough starter, replace 100 g of starter with 5-7 grams of instant powdered yeast, or 12-15 grams of fresh bakers yeast.

Timing:

Steeping the rosemary in olive oil: 12 hours the night before

Mixing and kneading the dough: 15 minutes

First rising: 2 hours

Proofing: 1 hour 30 minutes

Baking: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients:

Makes 1 large focaccia, about 940 g., leftovers can be frozen. It reheats well. I bake this in my large 40 cm x 30 cm baking tray that is used under the grill.

• 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 30g (2 tablespoons) extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• 500 g (4 cups) plain 00 flour for bread, pizzas and focaccia (I have used just plain flour before which is more economical and which also works well, but I liked the softer bread texture after using the 00 flour.) 
• 295 g (1 1/3 cup) lukewarm water 
• 100 g (1/2 cup) liquid sourdough starter that is very active and bubbling, or substitute 5-7 grams of instant yeast
• 1 1/4 teaspoons instant powdered yeast (which I used) or if you can get it, use 7 g (2 1/2 teaspoons) fresh baker's yeast, in addition to the sourdough starter
• 10 g (2 teaspoons) salt
• Sea salt flakes for sprinkling

METHOD:

The night before, remove the leaves from the fresh rosemary sprigs and mix them with the olive oil. Leave them to steep overnight at room temperature. If you forget to do this the night before, add the rosemary to the olive oil the next morning, and warm up the olive oil and rosemary together in your microwave. This will help to soften the rosemary.

I always knead my dough by hand, but I will also give instructions for using a stand mixer, and for kneading by hand.

KNEADING SOURDOUGH FOCACCIA BY HAND

Put the flour in a large mixing bowl and make a large well in the centre. Pour in half the water, then add the sourdough starter, yeast, and salt. Mix well, then add the rest of the water and knead until all the flour has been incorporated. Add the rosemary and the steeping oil. Knead the dough until it becomes smooth and elastic. If you think the dough is a little dry, wait until you've added the oil and rosemary before adding more water.

I always knead my sourdough by hand, however there isn't really much kneading needed for this recipe. If you prefer to use the dough hook in your Stand Mixer, here is a method for that process. 

KNEADING IN A STAND MIXER

Put the flour, water, sourdough starter, yeast, and salt in the bowl. Knead with the dough hook for 5 minutes at low speed, then for 10 minutes at high speed. Add the rosemary and the steeping oil around 3 minutes before the end of the kneading time.

PROOFING YOUR DOUGH:

Shape the dough into a ball, cover with a damp cloth, and leave to rise for 2 hours in a warm spot. Midway through the rise, deflate the dough by folding it in half. By the end of the rising time it will have increased in volume.

Put the dough in a 40 cm x 30 cm shallow baking tray lined with baking paper. 

Stretch the dough with your hands to make a flat piece that fills the baking tray.  Cover with a damp cloth and leave to proof in a warm area of your house for 1 hour and 30 minutes. I generally use my Northern facing laundry as my bread proofing area, window is closed, and door shut. Ensure the pan is deep enough for rising.

Place an empty baking tray on the bottom shelf of your oven and preheat the oven to 230 deg C. (or 450 deg. F.) 

Use the tips of your fingers to press small holes over the surface of the focaccia. Pour a little oil into the holes and sprinkle with salt flakes.

Just before you put the focaccia in the oven, pour 1/4 cup or 50 g of water into the baking dish in the bottom of your oven.

Bake the focaccia for 15-20 minutes.

Remove from the oven when beautifully browned, turn out the focaccia, and leave to cool on a wire rack. Voila, I have a beautiful rosemary flavoured focaccia loaf.

Slice into squares or tear apart. Mr. HRK loves the rustic approach by tearing a Focaccia loaf into pieces, no photo available unfortunately. Focaccia pieces are also delicious dunked in a good quality olive oil, and then into a tasty and grainy Dukkah. This is a very simple way to eat it.

The sky's the limit with the toppings you use for your focaccia. It can depend on what you have on hand, but it also makes a delicious cheese toastie, a perfect pizza base, or cut into triangles and served with delicious toppings.

Stay safe, healthy, and Covid free, it's on the rise again unfortunately.

Warm wishes,

Pauline