Focaccia bread is fun to make because once you have a solid dough, the toppings and spices are all up to you and you pretty much can't go wrong! I used a homegrown sourdough starter from Homestead and Chill in my recipe, which is also adapted from the Homestead and Chill Recipe:
Step 1: Combine the following wet ingredients:
- 1/2 cup sourdough starter
- 1 Tablespoon EVOO
- 2/3 Cup warm filtered water x 2
- 2 Teaspoons salt
Step 2: Add your dry ingredient - 3 cups of flour
Combine the dough mix thoroughly and cover with a lint-free towel to set for 4 hours. Let it rest at room temp, between 65-70 degrees. During the first two hours pull the dough up and fold over a few times every half hour. You don't want to break the dough ball in pieces, and it's good to let air between the layers.
Prepare a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat and drizzle a few tablespoons of olive oil on the lined pan. Move the dough ball to the pan (after the 4 hours) and let it rest for another two hours covered with the towel or plastic wrap.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and add your focaccia toppings. Here are some focaccia topping combos I like:
Pesto, mozzarella, fresh tomato and black olive
Sun dried tomatoes, rosemary, artichoke hearts, castelvetrano olives
olives, herbs, cheese, etc.
Once your toppings are on drizzle the top with olive oil and sprinkle coarse sea salt and bake for 25 minutes.