Easy Focaccia with Sweet or Savoury Toppings
Don’t be scared of the length of time this takes — it’s very much hands off, and most of the flavour gets developed in the overnight proving in the fridge. This basic dough is very adaptable to whatever toppings you wish to add — we’ve gone with one sweet and one savoury option.
Ingredients
For the Basic dough:
470ml lukewarm water
2 tsp salt
½ tsp sugar
1 sachet instant yeast (8g)
Olive oil
560g bread flour
For the Sweet with the Grapes, Fennel and Rosemary:
350g grapes, any colour, stemmed
Rosemary sprigs
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 Tbsp sugar
For the Savoury Allmite Three Seed and Mushrooms:
200g mushrooms, any type
3 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp Allmite Three Seed Spread
2-3 Tbsp water
½ tsp chilli flakes
Method
Put the water, salt, sugar, yeast and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large bowl and mix well to combine. Leave for 10 minutes, then add the flour and use a spatula to bring together to make a sticky, well incorporated dough. Rest covered for 30 minutes.
Wet your hands and lightly stretch the dough up and fold over itself. Give the bowl a ¼ turn and repeat. Do this 4 times in total, then cover and leave for 30 minutes. Repeat this stretching and folding three more times (a total of 2 hours). This process strengthens the gluten structure, giving the dough elasticity and helping it rise properly. Drizzle olive oil over the top of the dough and cover. You can leave the dough to prove on the bench until doubled in size (about an hour), or refrigerate it overnight for a more developed flavour and better bubbles.
Grease a lipped baking tin (approx. 45x33cm) with olive oil then tip in the dough. Oil your hands and stretch lightly to spread out evenly (it doesn’t have to be too precise here). Leave to rise until doubled in size. If you left the dough on bench to rise, this should take between 30-60 minutes. If using the dough straight from the fridge, allow 2-3 hours.
Preheat the oven to 220°C.
Drizzle the dough with olive oil and lightly dimple the dough with your fingers.
For the Sweet with the Grapes, Fennel and Rosemary:
Push the grapes into the dough, scatter over the fennel seeds and press in the sprigs of rosemary. Drizzle generously with olive oil and sprinkle with the sugar and flaky sea salt.
For the Savoury Allmite Three Seed and Mushrooms:
Make the topping while the dough is proving.
Wipe the mushrooms and trim or remove the stems if tough, then slice. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan and fry the mushrooms until lightly golden. Season with salt and set aside to cool.
To make the sauce, whisk together Allmite, the remaining olive oil, and 2-3 tablespoons of water until smooth.
Sprinkle the dimpled dough with the cooked mushrooms, drizzle over half the sauce. Sprinkle generously with flaky salt and chilli flakes.
To Cook:
Bake the dough for 20-25 minutes until the bread is golden.
Cool for 5 minutes in the tin, then remove from the pan with a spatula. Cool on a rack.
If making the savoury version drizzle with the remaining Allmite sauce before slicing.