Foccaccia

By LoriCaputo

Ingredients

• 3 lbs. flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 ¼ tsp ascorbic acid
• 1 tbs. olive oil
• 1 oz. dried yeast
• 1 tbs. sugar

Preparation

Step 1

Mix the flour, salt, and ascorbic acid with the oil. Mix in 150 mil warm water with the yeast and sugar, mashing thoroughly. Leave for 10 minutes until frothy.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, yeast mixture and 300 – 400 ml of warm water. Knead the dough for 2 – 3 minutes until the dough changes texture and feels springy. If the dough is sticky add a little more flour, if the dough seems too hard add a little more water. Cover dough with a cloth and leave to rise in a warm place for 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Take 1/3 of the dough mixture and add six tablespoon of oil and 2 tbs. each of dried oregano and basil. Knead and divide into 2. Roll dough to 5mm thick rounds and place on baking sheets. Slash the top or poke the dough all over with your fingers to form many little hollows and sprinkle with salt. Cover and let rise again, then bake for 15 – 20 minutes. Do not let the dough brown too much.

Variations:

6 tbs. olive oil
6 large medium white onions, sliced very thin

From the preceding recipe, omit the 6 tbs. olive or, dried oregano, and basil and sprinkled salt. Follow all the other steps to after the second rising.

Gently fry the onions until they are tender but still slightly crunchy, do not allow to brown.

Beat 12 tbs. of olive oil with 6 tbs. water and 3 tbs. salt for a few minutes until you have an even emulsion, then pour evenly over the six focaccio, use a brush to spread it all the way out to the edges. Spread each o f them with the cooked onion and bake as directed above.