Focaccia

From Mietta’s Italian Family Recipes, Mietta O’Donnell, Black Inc., 2000.

I am very fond of focaccia so I just had to try and make it. We were having a soup for dinner so an accompanying bread is always good to go with it.

A teaspoon of yeast was dissolved in 200 ml of warm water and left to do its work. A pinch of sugar was added.

While this was happening a large potato was put on to boil. When it was cooked it was put through a fine sieve and 100 g measured out. This was put into a little over 300 g of plain flour. I used 00 flour.

From here on the instructions were a little vague. We are told to work it in an electric mixer with a dough hook but we are not told what. After a bit of deliberation I decided it had to be the flour and potato plus the yeast mixture.

While the dough was mixing a tablespoon of olive oil was dribbled in and the mixing continued until it was all taken up. The ball of dough was lightly dusted with flour and left in a warm place to rise for two hours. There is a carefully detailed explanation of rising and the time it could possibly take but mine was well risen by the end of the time.

The dough was punched back and left to rise again. This took about one and a half hours. It was now taken, placed on an oiled baking sheet and formed into its loaf shape. Again it was left to rise some more and then it was time to poke your fingers in it to make dents. It was brushed with oil and put into a very hot oven until cooked.

It turned out to be not a bad effort. It was not anywhere near the expensive focaccias you purchase but it was certainly an edible bread. The crust was really crunchy and the bread was airy and light. I think it could have done with a little salt added to the mix.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔