Rosemary Olive Sourdough Focaccia
Ingredients
Garlic Infused Olive Oil
- 1 cup olive oil
- 8 garlic cloves skins left on and smashed
Focaccia Dough
- 3 cups water approximately 78°F
- 2 cups Chef Gail Sokol’s Potato Sourdough Starter
- ½ teaspoon instant active yeast
- 3 tablespoons garlic infused olive oil the recipe is below
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 cups bread flour
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 cups kalamata olives
- 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary finely chopped
- Kosher salt for sprinkling
- Olive oil for greasing pans and dough
- Garlic infused olive oil for drizzling
Instructions
Make the Garlic Infused Olive Oil
- Preheat oven to 300°F.
- In a small oven proof pan with high sides, add oil and garlic.
- Bake for 1 hour.
- Remove oil from the oven. Pour oil through a fine sieve set over a bowl and discard any solid pieces of garlic.
- Allow oil to cool.
Make the Focaccia Dough
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the water, starter, yeast, oil and both flours.
- Mix on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until a wet, sticky dough forms.
- Stop the machine. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rest for approximately 10 minutes.
- On medium speed, add the salt and mix well for approximately 2-3 minutes to develop the gluten.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and knead for 1-2 minutes on a work surface.
- Place dough in a large greased rectangular pan with sides. Drizzle 2 teaspoons olive oil over the dough. Cover pan lightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise for approximately 1 hour or until doubled in volume.
- Every 20 minutes or so, uncover dough and gently stretch dough and fold into the center trying not to push any air bubbles out.
- Pour dough onto a work surface. Using a dough cutter, cut dough in half.
- Coat 2 15 ½ by 10 ½ inch rectangular sheet pans with some of the garlic infused olive oil. Gently fit each half of dough into the pans without deflating any bubbles from the dough. Push gently so both doughs fit into all of the pan corners.
- Cover each pan lightly with greased plastic wrap and allow both doughs to rise for approximately 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 500° F.
- Remove plastic wrap from both doughs.
- Press kalamata olives evenly into both focaccia doughs so that the olives are embedded into the dough, using 1 cup of olives for each sheet pan.
- Scatter chopped rosemary and kosher salt over both focaccias and drizzle each with the remaining garlic infused olive oil.
- Bake focaccia in the 500°F oven, immediately lowering the temperature to 450°F for approximately 15 minutes.
- Rotate focaccia and continue baking for another 5-10 minutes or until nice and brown.
- Allow to cool or cut into squares and serve warm.
Notes
Makes 2 15½” x10½” Rectangular Focaccias