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Focaccia & Bread Recipe list

- Classic white focaccia ligure
- Focaccetta ligure (stuffed with cheese)
- Stuffed Focaccia with spinach, olives and mozzarella

- Olive and Sundried Tomato Bread

Classic white focaccia ligure

Ingredients

- 400g flour
- 25g yeast
- 260g water
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt

Brine:
- 30g oil
- 50g water

- grains of coarse salt

Method

1. Dissolve yeast in water with sugar.
2. Add the flour and salt. The dough is very sticky and much softer than that for pizza. It should not be worked for long.
3. As soon as it appears homogeneous, with anointed hands, spread the batter on a griddle also greased.
4. To rise in warm place for about an hour.
5. Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas Mark 7. Then grease your hands and with your fingers make holes in the dough, pressing with fingertips to touch the pan. 6. Put in the pockets grains of coarse salt.
7. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
8. In a bowl, beat with a fork oil and water and sprinkle the emulsion on the surface of the focaccia. Bake again for 5-10 minutes, until it is golden.
Variations: (onions & rosemary / green olives & rock salt, ...)
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Focaccetta ligure stuffed with cheese

Ingredients - serves 4

- 300g flour
- 400g cheese (semi-hard)
- olive oil
- 12 tbsp of water
- salt

Method

1. Mix the flour with cold water and a little salt and knead the dough until smooth.
2. Leave it on hold and in the meantime, cut the cheese into cubes.
3. With a rolling pin, roll out the dough to a thickness of 2-3 mm and then obtain 2 disks, one slightly larger than the other that will serve to cover a baking pan greased with oil.
4. Spread the cheese over the disk and cover with the other, then brush the surface with oil.
5. Preheat the oven to 230°C/450°F/Gas Mark 8 and bake for about 20 minutes. Serve in slices.
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Stuffed Focaccia with Spinach, Olives and Mozzarella

Ingredients

- 450g strong plain white flour
- 2 tsp dried yeast
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing
- 300ml warm water
- 250g frozen spinach, defrosted
- 200g mozzarella cheese, chopped
- 4 tbsp pitted Kalamata olives, chopped
- 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, stripped from the sprigs
- Sea salt for sprinkling
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Sift the flour into a large bowl and stir in the yeast. Make a well in the centre, pour in the oil and the water aand with the help of a wooden spoon, mix all together.
2. Transfer the mixture on a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.
3. Place the dough into a greased bowl, cover with a clean tea-towel and leave to rise in a warm place for about 1 1/2 hours until nearly doubled in size.
4. Meanwhile, squeeze the defrosted spinach to remove any excess water and place in a large bowl. Add the mozzarella, the olives and the thyme. Season with salt and pepper and mix well.
5. Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas Mark 7. Brush a 25cm loose-based cake tin with oil.
6. Knock back the dough by punching it, and divide it into two pieces. Roll out the first piece larger than the tin. Place on the bottom of the tin and mould the sides to be higher than the base.
7. Spread the spinach mixture over the base to within 1 cm of the edge.
8. Roll out the remaining dough to the size of the tin, brush the edges with a little water and place over the filling. Press the edges together to ensure a good seal.
9. Using your fingers, press all over the surface and then brush with the extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle with sea salt and bake in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes until risen and firm.
10. Remove the focaccia from the oven and allow to rest in the tin for 10 minutes then place on a wire rack to slightly cool. Enjoy while still warm and fragrant. If you fo have any leftover, it will still taste great for lunch the next day.
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Olive and Sundried Tomato Bread

Ingredients
- 1 kg strong bread flour
- 500ml warm water
- 6g sachet dried yeast
- 1 tbs sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 50g sundried tomatoes
- 100g black or green olives

Method

1. Mix the yeast, salt and sugar into half the flour.
2. Add the warm water and olive oil, stir well to form a very loose mixture.
3. Cover the mixture with a tea-towel and leave to rise in a warm place for 11/2 hours.
4. Meanwhile chop up the olives into quarters and the sundried tomatoes into small pieces.
5. Once the dough has risen, use a fork to stir in the tomato, olives and remaining flour.
6. Knead until dough becomes consistent and smooth, the dough will be very loose and quite difficult to knead so use a little extra flour to help.
7. When done kneading cover with a tea-towel again and allow to rise for a further hour.
8. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/425° F/Gas mark 7.
9. Place the dough onto a floured surface, divide in half and shape into two loaves.
10. Place the loaves onto some baking paper on a baking tray, or into a baking tin, and bake for 30 minutes.
11. Check that the loaves are done by tapping the bottom with your finger, it should be making a hollow sound when the bread is cooked.
12. When done remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack to cool down.
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