Focaccia
Focaccia
Olive-oil bread with a dimpled top — Ligurian if you are strict, a very good tray if you are hungry.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen. Native name preserved: Focaccia.
0 people cooked this in the public kitchen yet. Kitchen-tested by I Want Some Food. Not a purchased rating.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Rest
- 2 hr
- Total
- 2 hr 50 min
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Spice
- No chilli
- Cost
- Cheap nightUnder $8 USD · indicative, not a store price
About
Focaccia is a dimpled, oily dough, baked until the top blisters and the crumb stays open. Genoa's is flatter and saltier; bakery trays elsewhere get thicker. This is a home tray: long rest, plenty of oil, coarse salt. It is not pizza dough with a new name, though they are cousins. Oil is not a garnish you drizzle at the end; it is part of the dough's environment. A dry crumb usually means you were timid with both water and fat. Dimple with wet fingers so you do not deflate the whole tray. Salt on the surface needs a little oil to cling or it falls off as ammunition. If the bottom is pale, your oven was not hot enough or the tray was crowded with a cold baking sheet. Cool slightly before cutting or you compress the open crumb into cotton.
Ingredients
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Mix flour, water, yeast, 1 tbsp oil and salt to a sticky dough. Rest 30 minutes, fold, rest until doubled, about 90 minutes.
120 minStep 2
Oil a tray. Stretch the dough in. Dimple with oiled fingers, more oil, salt, rosemary. Rest 20 minutes.
25 minStep 3
Bake at 220°C until gold, 20–25 minutes. Eat warm.
Adapt this recipe
The canonical recipe stays intact. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are maths, not AI.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 10 October.
Substitutions
Rosemary → Nothing, or thin onion
Plain salt focaccia is still focaccia.
Tips
- A wet dough is the open crumb. Do not panic-add flour.
- Cherry tomatoes on top is a Bari-ish extra.
History & culture
Liguria and every Italian bakery. Breakfast, picnic, sandwich bread. Liguria still treats a slice as breakfast with coffee or a walk-around lunch stuffed with cheese. Bakeries elsewhere sell a thicker, softer slab that is closer to a snack cake. Both feed people. Homes that only bake it for guests miss how ordinary a tray can be: a Saturday dough, a salty top, something to wrap around leftovers. Rosemary is popular abroad. Onion or nothing at all is equally local depending on the street.
Hearth breads with oil are older than the modern bakery focaccia. The dimpled rectangle is what people now mean. Oil breads baked on a hearth are a Mediterranean habit with many names. What people now photograph — a rectangular pan, regular dimples, coarse salt — is bakery standardisation. That is not a crime. It is how a regional bread travelled. Industrial yeast made timing predictable. Long, cool rests are a home baker's way of chasing flavour the old rooms got from slower ferments and a different flour bill.
Traditional
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips — not a chatbot.
How long does Focaccia take?
2 hr 50 min all in — 25 min prep, 25 min cook, 2 hr rest. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 8 pieces. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
Medium.
How spicy is it?
No chilli.
What allergens should I watch?
This recipe is labelled for Wheat. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Vegetarian, Vegan.
What does it cost to cook?
Cheap night — about Under $8 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Mixing bowl, Baking tray, Oven.
How much salt do I put in?
The recipe lists Salt at 8 g.
What can I use instead?
Rosemary → Nothing, or thin onion. Plain salt focaccia is still focaccia.
Any tips from this recipe?
A wet dough is the open crumb. Do not panic-add flour. Cherry tomatoes on top is a Bari-ish extra.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
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