What comes to mind when you hear the word focaccia? To me it evokes the feeling of all things Italy, think olive oil, fresh tomatoes, rosemary, basil they really know food. This sourdough discard focaccia recipe creates a beautifully soft, chewy and crispy bread, coated with delicious olive oil.
What is Focaccia Bread
As stated above focaccia bread hails from Italy, it is known as a type of flat bread, and often linked to pizza. I can understand why to some degree but I find focaccia is unique to itself.
Reading through the history of focaccia and everything to do with this wonderful bread I found like many recipes it has so many variations. The history dates it back to around the 14th century finding a variation of this flat bread in Rome. Over the years this bread spread and has developed into what we now know focaccia as today.
One of the more popular recipes comes from Liguria and even there has its variations. The one we commonly know has those wonderful dimples and coated in oil and salt is focaccia genovese. This recipe is based from this kind of focaccia.
The first time I heard about Ligurian focaccia was on the Netflix show Salt Fat Acid Heat. Samin Nosrat travelled around different countries sampling amazing foods that encompassed these four elements. During the salt episode she went to Italy and well wow what an amazing country and the food…… well what can you say.
We watched as she was shown how to make traditional Ligurian focaccia bread and I thought I have to make this bread or at least a version of it. So got to it and created this recipe with a little trial and error.
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Tools and Ingredients for Discard Focaccia Bread
Tools:
- Large mixing bowl or a stand mixer with a dough hook
- Measuring spoons
- Digital kitchen scale
- Plastic tub that is roughly half the size of the mixing bowl or at least double the size of the dough ball.
- Plastic wrap or a wet cotton tea towel.
- Baking sheet around 13″x9″ in size
- Tin foil or parchment
- Small jug or cup
Ingredients:
- A good quality white all purpose flour.
- Sourdough discard.
- Dry yeast, this can be quick or traditional. If you are using the traditional yeast it will need activating in a little of the water before being added into the other ingredients.
- Water, this needs to be at room temperature.
- Extra virgin olive oil, the key to good focaccia bread is in the oil.
- Salt, a good sea salt, Malden salt is the best if you have it.
How to make Discard Focaccia Bread
If you are using traditional dried yeast activate it now. Place around 3 tbsp of the water into a small bowl and add the yeast. Give it a stir and leave it until it begins to look foamy. This may take around five minutes or so.
In the mixing bowl add the water, sourdough discard, honey and dried yeast, mix together really well.
Add the flour and salt, using a wooden spoon bring the ingredients together to form a rough dough ball.
Now you need to knead the dough be warned it is a very sticky dough, don’t be tempted to add more flour. Knead it for around 8 minutes.
We want to activate the gluten in the flour, this is when the dough becomes nice and elastic and stretchy. You can do the window pane test to make sure it is ready.
Now we want to rest the dough, do this by oiling a plastic tub or the bowl it was kneaded in, then using oiled hands lift and oil the dough ball. place it into the bowl or tub and cover with plastic or a damp tea towel.
Leave it to rest for 45 minutes.
Take the baking sheet and line it with foil or parchment, now this isn’t really necessary but I have found it helps if the bread tends to stick to the tray. Oil the tray with around four tablespoons of oil.
Take the dough ball and place it onto the baking sheet. Stretch it out using your hands, as your stretching out flip it over to make sure both sides are thoroughly coated in oil.
Try to stretch out the dough to all corners of the baking sheet. Cover the dough with an oil piece of plastic wrap and a tea towel.
Rise and Bake
Leave the bread to rise this can be anywhere from two to four hour, it will depend on the temperature of the room.
While it is rising make the salt water, stir it well to make sure all of the salt has dissolved.
Once the bread has doubled in size and looks bubbly carefully remove the plastic it may still stick despite all of the oil.
Now using the pads of three fingers dip them in oil and press into the bread to form the dimple. Dimple the entire surface and then pour over the salt water as evenly as you can.
Leave it rest uncovered, after 20 minutes preheat your oven to 450F, 230C.
When the oven has come to temperature carefully place the tray in and bake the bread for around 23 minutes or until it is golden and crisp.
Remove the tray from the oven and very very carefully remove the bread, you may remove the foil or paper at the same time. Place the bread upside down on a board and leave it to cool.
Once cool flip it to the right side up and brush the surface with a little oil. Serve it right away.
The bread can be stored for up to a week but it is best when eaten as soon as possible. It can also be frozen for up to a month.
Discard Focaccia Serving Suggestions
- Top it with fresh cherry tomatoes, shallots and herbs before you bake it.
- Have it with any pasta dish
- Mix fresh rosemary into the dough at the beginning to add a wonderful flavour.
- Dip it in an olive tapenade
- Roasted chicken and a green salad
- Use it as a sandwich bread
Sourdough Discard Focaccia Bread
A deliciously easy sourdough discard focaccia bread recipe. Soft chewy, crispy and smothered in oil, what could be better that that.
Ingredients
- 480g White all purpose flour
- 350g Room temperature water
- 55g Sourdough discard
- 1 1/2 tsp (7g) Dried yeast
- 1 tbsp Honey
- 2 tsp Salt
- Roughly 1/3 cup (5 tbsp) Good quality extra virgin olive oil
Salt water
- 1/2 cup (125ml) water
- 1 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- If you are using traditional dried yeast activate it now. Place around 3 tbsp of the water into a small bowl and add the yeast. Give it a stir and leave it until it begins to look foamy. This may take around five minutes or so.
- In the mixing bowl add the water, sourdough discard, honey and dried yeast, mix together really well.
- Add the flour and salt, using a wooden spoon bring the ingredients together to form a rough dough ball.
- Now you need to knead the dough be warned it is a very sticky dough, don't be tempted to add more flour. Knead it for around 8 minutes. We want to activate the gluten in the flour, this is when the dough becomes nice and elastic and stretchy. You can do the window pane test to make sure it is ready.
- Now we want to rest the dough, do this by oiling a plastic tub or the bowl it was kneaded in, then using oiled hands lift and oil the dough ball. place it into the bowl or tub and cover with plastic or a damp tea towel.
- Leave it to rest for 45 minutes.
- Take the baking sheet and line it with foil or parchment, now this isn't really necessary but I have found it helps if the bread tends to stick to the tray. Oil the tray with around four tablespoons of oil.
- Take the dough ball and place it onto the baking sheet. Stretch it out using your hands, as your stretching out flip it over to make sure both sides are thoroughly coated in oil.
- Try to stretch out the dough to all corners of the baking sheet. Cover the dough with an oil piece of plastic wrap and a tea towel.
- Leave the bread to rise this can be anywhere from two to four hour, it can depend on the temperature of the room.
- While it is rising make the salt water, stir it well to make sure all of the salt has dissolved.
- Once the bread has doubled in size and looks bubbly carefully remove the plastic it may still stick despite all of the oil.
- Now using the pads of three fingers dip them in oil and press into the bread to form the dimple. Dimple the entire surface and then pour over the salt water as evenly as you can.
- Leave it rest uncovered, after 20 minutes preheat your oven to 450F, 230C.
- When the oven has come to temperature carefully place the tray in and bake the bread for around 23 minutes or until it is golden and crisp.
- Remove the tray from the oven and very very carefully remove the bread, you may remove the foil or paper at the same time. Place the bread upside down on a board and leave it to cool.
- Once cool flip it to the right side up and brush the surface with a little oil. Serve it right away.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 14 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 144Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 524mgCarbohydrates: 30gFiber: 1gSugar: 2gProtein: 4g
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