Classic Focaccia Barese
Thinner than many focaccia varieties out there, this Barese style focaccia is so delicious and makes a great side or appetizer. This focaccia from Bari, Italy is a great one to make at home.
Equipment
- 10 inch cast iron pan
Ingredients
Bread Dough
- 1 ½ cups All-purpose flour plus more for work surface
- ¾ cup Semolina flour
- ¾ cups Water filtered and at room temperature
- ½ cup Russet potato mashed. just the inside, cooked and cooled
- 2 tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Instant (rapid rise) yeast
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Top of the Focaccia
- 10 Cherry tomatoes
- ½ cup Green olives you can also use black olives
- 3 tablespoon Olive oil for the top of the Focaccia
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
Instructions
- In a medium bowl combine the water, yeast and let sit for 10 minutes.¾ cups Water, 1 tsp Instant (rapid rise) yeast
- After 10 minutes, add the mashed up potato, and olive oil to the water and mix well.½ cup Russet potato, 2 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
- In a separate large bowl, add both types of flour and salt then mix well.1 ½ cups All-purpose flour, 1 tsp kosher salt, ¾ cup Semolina flour
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well until a dough comes together. It may be sticky and that is normal.
- In the bowl, knead the dough until it becomes a ball of dough.
- Dump the dough out on to a lightly floured work surface and discard any flour left in the bowl. Knead the dough for 5 minutes.
- Form a ball with the dough, coat the large bowl with olive oil and place the dough back into the large bowl .
- Cover with a kitchen towel and let the dough rest for 3-4 hours to rise.
- After 3-4 hours, coat a cast iron pan with a little olive oil.
- Punch down the dough then place it in the pan and press it out to fill the baking dish.
- Let the dough rest for another 20-30 minutes, covered with a kitchen towel.
- Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
- Press dimples into the top of the focaccia with your fingertips.
- Drizzle olive oil over the top.¼ tsp Kosher salt, 3 tbsp Olive oil for the top of the Focaccia
- Take the cherry tomatoes one at a time and crush each on and place it in the dimples of the dough and let the juice of the tomato fall on top of the dough. Do this with all the tomatoes.10 Cherry tomatoes
- Now press in the olives into the top of the dough.½ cup Green olives
- Bake for about 10 minutes on the middle rack.
- After 10 minutes, move the pan to the bottom rack and bake for another 5 minutes or until it turns a beautiful golden brown in color on the top.
- Let cool for 5 minutes then slice and enjoy.
Nutrition
Calories: 132kcalCarbohydrates: 22gProtein: 3gFat: 3gSaturated Fat: 0.5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.4gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gSodium: 333mgPotassium: 98mgFiber: 1gSugar: 0.5gVitamin A: 91IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 10mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!