Sourdough Focaccia
The story behind the recipe
Many student cooks have enjoyed cooking homemade dishes and selling them at the Student Cooking Corner on Wednesday’s in Forum. One of these students was Andrea. He participated in December 2019 and made several traditional recipes from Puglia, in the south of Italy. He made his dishes sustainable by making a vegetarian or vegan version and used local ingredients from such as vegetables from a local farm, and flour from the local mill in Wageningen.
What do you need?
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Sourdough yeast
- All-purpose flour
- Warm water
- Salt
- Oregano
- Tomatoes
- Olives
Instructions and Tips
Extra-virgin olive oil is what makes focaccia taste so unbelievably delicious. It adds to the texture as well as the flavor of the bread. I truly believe that the secret to the best focaccia bread is using a great tasting olive oil. Salt is used to season the dough but also gives it the necessary strength.
When using sourdough yeast, warm water will help the bread to rise and gives it structure. The warmth of the water and the sugars in the flour are the perfect environments for the yeast to do its work. Add water until you get a firm bread-like consistency. If you do not have any sourdough yeast, all-purpose flour works just as well for making the perfect focaccia.
Combine the sourdough yeast with all-purpose flour. Then, add warm water, extra-virgin olive oil, and salt. Mix by hand or with a mixer until the dough is smooth and elastic. Put the dough in a bowl coated with extra-virgin olive oil and let it rise. After this, you can add olive oil in an oven bowl.
Add the oregano, tomatoes, olives, and olive oil on top of the focaccia dough, this will make the focaccia taste amazing. Just like when seasoning soups and sauces, it’s important to season dough on top.
Preheat the oven, and cook for 20-25 minutes or until golden. Let the focaccia cool, and then it’s ready to be cut