Focaccia With Sage Recipe Epicuriouscom Recipes

SHOCKINGLY EASY NO-KNEAD FOCACCIA

Steps:

• Whisk yeast, honey, and 2½ cups lukewarm water in a medium bowl and let sit 5 minutes. Add flour and salt; mix with a rubber spatula until a shaggy dough forms and no dry streaks remain.
• Pour 4 Tbsp. oil into the biggest bowl that will fit in your refrigerator. Transfer dough to bowl and turn to coat in oil. Cover with a silicone lid or plastic wrap and chill until dough is doubled in size (it should look very bubbly and alive), at least 8 hours and up to 1 day.
• Generously butter a 13x9" baking pan (for thicker focaccia that's perfect for sandwiches) or an 18x13" rimmed baking sheet. Pour 1 Tbsp. oil into center of pan. Keeping the dough in the bowl, gather up edges of dough farthest from you and lift up and over into center of bowl. Give the bowl a quarter turn and repeat process. Do this 2 more times; you want to deflate dough while you form it into a rough ball. (Using a fork in each hand makes this process even easier and less messy!)
• Transfer dough to prepared pan. Pour any oil left in bowl over the dough and coat it in oil. Let rise, uncovered, in a dry, warm spot until doubled in size, at least 1½ hours and up to 4 hours. To see if it's ready, poke the dough with your finger. The dough should spring back slowly, leaving a small visible indentation. If it springs back quickly, the dough isn't ready. (If at this point the dough is ready to bake but you aren't, you can chill it up to 1 hour.)
• Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 450°F. Lightly oil your hands. If using a rimmed baking sheet, gently stretch out dough to fill (you may not need to do this if using a baking pan). Dimple focaccia all over with your fingers, as if you're aggressively playing the piano, creating very deep depressions in the dough. Drizzle with remaining 1 Tbsp. oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake focaccia until puffed and golden brown all over, 20-30 minutes.
• Melt 4 Tbsp. butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and grate in garlic (use 2 cloves if you're garlic-shy or up to 4 if you love it). Return to medium heat and cook, stirring often, until garlic is just lightly toasted, about 45 seconds. Brush garlic butter all over focaccia. If you don't want to serve the focaccia immediately, hold off on brushing so it remains crisp.

SAGE FOCACCIA

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl, combine the yeast, salt, and warm water.
• Mix in the flour, starting with 2 cups, and then adding the rest, until a sticky, shaggy dough forms.
• Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and allow to rise for about 1 hour, until at least doubled in size and very bubbly. Preheat oven to 400F while it is rising.
• Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Turn the focaccia dough onto the lined baking sheet and gently spread it out with your fingers into a large rectange or oval.
• Dipping your fingers in the olive oil, make dimples over the top of the bread, and top with a bit more flaky salt. Note: don't be shy with the olive oil, it gives the bread great flavor and creates a crunchy crust.
• Gently press the fresh sage leaves on top of the bread.
• Bake for about 25 minutes until puffed and starting to turn golden.

FOCACCIA

Steps:

• In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk together the flour, water, and yeast. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until the mixture is tripled in bulk and full of spongelike bubbles, about 2 hours.
• Add the salt. Attach the bowl to a mixer fitted with the dough hook. Mix on low speed for 3 to 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. When the dough begins to cling to and almost climb the sides of the bowl, raise the speed to medium and beat for about 15 seconds. The dough will be wet, slack, and very sticky.
• Using a plastic bowl scraper, turn out the dough onto a well-floured work surface. (The dough will be hard to handle, but resist the urge to add flour to the top-instead, keep your hands and tools well dusted.) Fold the dough in the following manner: With the bowl scraper (and, to a lesser degree, your fingertips), gather and fold the bottom edge of the dough about one-third of the way toward the center. Pat down lightly to deflate slightly and dislodge any extra flour. Fold the top edge down one-third of the way toward the center; the two folds should overlap slightly. Repeat with left and right sides, until all edges meet and overlap in the center. Tap off excess flour as you go. Gently scoop up the dough and flip it over, seam side down. Place the dough in a lightly floured bowl, smooth side up. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
• Return dough to a well-floured work surface. Repeat the folding process, making sure to brush off excess flour. Lightly flour the mixing bowl, and return dough to the bowl, smooth side up. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until it has doubled in bulk again, about 1 hour. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450°F, with a rack in the lower third. Pour 1/2 cup of the olive oil onto a 17-by-12-inch rimmed baking sheet, coating the bottom completely; set aside.
• Return dough to a well-floured surface; it should be very soft and springy. Place the dough on the prepared sheet. With your hands, flip dough over and thoroughly coat both sides with oil. With your fingertips, push the dough out toward the edges of the sheet. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rest for 10 minutes (this will relax the dough). With the plastic wrap still on top, continue to press out the dough to fill the pan. Remove the plastic; the dough should be very bubbly and supple. Drizzle the remaining 1/4 cup oil over the top of the dough. Sprinkle liberally with sea salt.
• Bake, rotating sheet halfway through, until focaccia is evenly browned on top and bottom, 25 to 30 minutes. Immediately slide the focaccia onto a wire rack set over another rimmed baking sheet; pour any olive oil in the pan over it. Serve warm or at room temperature. Slice with a serrated knife or pizza wheel.
• Heat 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add a small onion and 1/2 fennel bulb, both thinly sliced; sauté until soft, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat, and season with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper. Follow instructions for Focaccia dough. After drizzling dough with oil, scatter fennel and onion mixture on top, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Kalamata olives (pitted and halved) and some salt. Bake as instructed. While focaccia is still warm, sprinkle with chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley.
• Olive oil is poured onto a rimmed baking sheet, then topped with focaccia dough.
• The dough is carefully flipped in the pan, so that both sides are completely coated with oil.
• Gradually, the dough is pressed and patted out toward the edges of the pan. It should be dimpled and full of bubbles.

FOCACCIA WITH SAGE

Steps:

• FOR SPONGE:
• Place 1/2 cup water in large bowl. Stir in yeast. Let stand until yeast dissolves and mixture is cloudy, about 10 minutes. Stir in flour. Cover with plastic. Let stand until very bubbly, about 45 minutes or less
• FOR FOCACCIA:
• Place 1 cup water in small bowl. Stir in yeast. Let stand until yeast dissolves and mixture is cloudy, about 10 minutes. Stir dissolved yeast mixture and 1/4 cup olive oil into sponge in large bowl. Stir in 1 cup flour. Stir in 2 tablespoons chopped sage and 2 teaspoons salt. Add remaining flour in 2 batches, mixing until well blended after each addition. Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead dough until soft and velvety, about 10 minutes.
• Oil large bowl. Add dough, turning to coat with oil. Cover with plastic. Let dough rise in warm area until doubled, about 1 hour 15 minutes.
• Oil 11x17-inch baking sheet. Punch down dough. Transfer to prepared sheet. Using oiled hands, press out dough to cover bottom of pan. Cover dough with kitchen towel. Let stand 10 minutes (dough will shrink).
• Press out dough again to cover pan. Cover with towel. Let rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, position rack in center of oven. Place baking stone on rack and preheat oven to 425°F. (Baking stones are available at cookware stores. Unglazed quarry tiles, available at tile stores and some building supply stores, can also be used. If unavailable, heat another baking sheet in oven 10 minutes).
• Using fingertips, press dough all over, creating dimples. Drizzle dough with 2 tablespoons oil. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sage and 1 teaspoon salt.
• Place pan directly on pizza stone. Spray oven with water from spray bottle. Bake until focaccia is golden and top is crisp, spraying oven with water twice more during first 10 minutes, about 25 minutes total. Transfer bread to rack. Cool slightly. Serve bread warm or at room temperature.

SAGE FONTINA FOCACCIA

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in honey; let stand for 5 minutes. Add 3/4 cup all- purpose flour, whole wheat flour, oil, minced sage and salt. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes or until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky)., Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour., Punch dough down. Cover and let rest for 5 minutes. Place 1 tablespoon olive oil in a 10-in. cast-iron or other ovenproof skillet; tilt pan to evenly coat. Add dough; shape to fit pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. , With fingertips, make several dimples over top of dough. For topping, brush dough with 1 teaspoon oil. Top with sage leaves; brush leaves with remaining oil. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 400° until golden brown, 10-15 minutes. Remove to a wire rack. Serve warm.,

FOCACCIA WITH OLIVES AND ROSEMARY

Steps:

• Place 2 cups warm water in large bowl. Sprinkle dry yeast over; stir with fork. Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 10 minutes.
• Add 4 1/4 cups flour and salt to yeast mixture and stir to blend well (dough will be sticky). Knead dough on floured surface until smooth and elastic, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls if dough is sticky, about 10 minutes. Form dough into ball. Oil large bowl; add dough, turning to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm area until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours. Punch down dough; knead into ball and return to same bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm area until doubled, about 45 minutes or less
• Coat 15x10-inch baking sheet with 1 tablespoon oil. Punch down dough. Transfer to prepared sheet. Using fingertips, press out dough to 13x10-inch rectangle. Let dough rest 10 minutes. Drizzle 2 tablespoons oil over dough. Sprinkle olives and chopped rosemary evenly over. Let dough rise uncovered in warm area until puffy, about 25 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 475°F. Press fingertips all over dough, forming indentations. Bake bread until brown and crusty, about 20 minutes. Serve bread warm or at room temperature.

FOCACCIA WITH CAULIFLOWER AND SAGE

Steps:

• Mix up the focaccia dough as directed and set in a warm spot to rise.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt generously. Add the cauliflower and blanch for 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl of cold water, then drain and pat dry. Cut the florets into small pieces and toss in a large bowl with 2 tablespoons olive oil and salt and freshly ground pepper.
• When the focaccia dough has risen, shape as directed into 1 large focaccia or 2 smaller focacce. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm spot for 30 minutes while you preheat the oven to 425 degrees, preferably with a baking stone in it.
• Dimple the dough with your fingertips and arrange the sage leaves, then the cauliflower on top. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake, setting the pan on top of the baking stone (if using), for 25 minutes, until the bread is deep golden brown and the cauliflower lightly colored in spots. Let rest for at least 10 minutes before serving, or allow to cool completely.