This salty, savoury rosemary sourdough focaccia is a delicious bread to eat on its own – dipped into olive oil and balsamic vinegar – or made into epic sandwiches.
I love cooking sourdough. It’s a gentle, calming activity that can take time (my Homemade White Sourdough Loaf takes 4 days, start to finish). It’s a lesson in patience, and sometimes that’s great.
Other times, though, I need a loaf in more of a hurry. This focaccia can be made in one day (which is something of a rush in the sourdough world).
You’ll need an active sourdough starter to make this recipe. Making one from scratch takes around five days, but once you have it you can store it in the fridge and activate it every time you want to cook with it. I fed my dormant starter with 50g plain flour and 50g water an hour before I wanted to use it, then popped it in the airing cupboard. After this time it was very bubbly – this is what you want from an active sourdough starter.
Rosemary Sourdough Focaccia – The Ingredients
One of the things I love about sourdough is how few ingredients you need. This focaccia is simply made from:
- Active sourdough starter – see the notes above for making and activating your starter.
- Water – tepid water is mixed with the starter as the first step.
- Strong white bread flour – this will give a good consistency and taste to your focaccia. While you can use plain flour, it won’t be as good.
- Salt – coarse sea salt is best.
- Olive oil – focaccia is enriched with olive oil. The better the olive oil you use, the more delicious it will be.
- Rosemary – use fresh rosemary sprigs to impart that wonderful, traditional flavour.
Top Tips
- Take your time Although this is ‘fast’ for a sourdough recipe, you still need to take your time. Sourdough needs time to form those air bubbles that will create the soft, bouncy texture for your bread.
- Get ahead Sourdough focaccia will keep (well wrapped) for four days at room temperature, though it’s best when fresh. It can also be frozen – cool thoroughly, then wrap and freeze for up to three months.
- Eating sourdough focaccia This bread is tasty enough to eat by itself, simply dipped in olive oil. It’s also great with soups and for making sandwiches– try it stuffed with mozzarella, basil and tomatoes.
Rosemary Sourdough Focaccia
Ingredients
- 100 grams active sourdough starter
- 400 grams tepid water
- 500 grams strong white bread flour
- 2 tablespoons sea salt coarse
- 5 tablespoons olive oil
- 10 sprigs of rosemary
Instructions
- Put the sourdough starter and the tepid water into a large bowl. Mix together with a spatula. Tip in the flour and mix until well combined. Cover and leave for 30 minutes.
- Sprinkle with 1.5 tbsps of the salt. Wet your hand, then use it to work the salt into the dough, pulling and scrunching. When combined, cover and put somewhere reasonably warm (I use my airing cupboard) for 30 minutes.
- Uncover the dough and pull one side out, then fold it over itself. Work around the dough, pulling each side out and folding over. Cover and leave for another 30 minutes. Repeat twice more (so that you have folded 3 times). Cover and leave for another two hours.
- Put 2 tbsps of the olive oil into a 20cm x 30 cm ovenproof dish. Tip the dough into the dish and move it around, folding and pulling the dough until the oil is incorporated. Cover and leave in a warm place for 3 hours.
- Preheat the oven for 220 degrees Celsius. Push your fingertips into the dough to make dips. Sprinkle over the remaining salt and 2 tbsps olive oil. Stick the rosemary sprigs into the dough. Put in the oven for 30-40 minutes, until golden.
- Remove from the oven and drizzle over the remaining olive oil. Carefully remove from the dish and leave to cool before eating.
