Quick focaccia in one hour

• servings: 6 servings
• active time: 40 minutes
• total time: 1 hour

Ingredients

100 g plain (all-purpose) flour

135 g strong white bread flour

½ tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

7 g instant yeast (Usually 1 sachet for 1x recipe - see notes)

150-180 ml extra virgin olive oil - divided (see recipe)

135 ml hand-hot water

flaky salt and rosemary

olives - green, black or a mixture

sun-dried tomatoes

caramelised onions and crumbled feta

pesto and grated mozarella

roasted peppers

Directions

Put the flours, salt, sugar, instant yeast, water and 3 tbsp of the olive oil in a mixing bowl. Mix with a spoon until you have a shaggy ball then tip out onto the counter and knead the dough by hand. Continue to knead for 5-10 minutes until you have a ball of smooth, silky dough.

Place the ball of dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean tea towel, a lid, or plastic wrap. Place in a very warm place e.g. airing cupboard, by a radiator etc. for about 5 minutes.

Use another 2-3 tbsp of the olive oil to grease the base and sides of a 29 x 18 cm baking tin.

Turn out the dough and knead briefly. Use your hands to squash, stretch and pat the dough out into a rectangle roughly the size of the tin. Transfer the dough to the oiled tin and squash, pat and ease the dough to the edges of the tin. It should be a roughly even thickness all the way across.

Cover the baking tin with a tea towel, plastic wrap, or a lid, and return it to the warm place for about 15 minutes.

Remove the dough from the warm place and use your fingers to poke deep holes into the dough - press right down to the bottom of the tin. Gently brush 2-3 tbsp olive oil over the surface of the dough and then sprinkle with salt flakes and rosemary, or your choice of toppings.

Place the tin into a COLD oven, and turn on the heat to 200°C (400°F). The dough should rise rapidly as the oven heats up, and then bake once the temperature is reached.

After about 20-25 minutes, the focaccia should be well risen and golden brown on top. Remove from the oven and drizzle a further 2-3 tbsp of olive oil over the surface. Allow to cool slightly in the tin before lifting out. Eat straightaway, or allow to cool.

Nutrition

• Calories: 374 kcal
• Total Fat: 26 g
• Saturated Fat: 4 g
• Sodium: 196 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 32 g
• Dietary Fiber: 1 g
• Total Sugars: 2 g
• Protein: 5 g