Focaccia is a well-known Italian bread associated with the sun and a serene siesta. It is perfect for breakfast or as a snack to it. We learned from the chef and baker Maria Dmitrieva how to bake focaccia at home.

The most important thing in this recipe is water (I use filtered water) and sourdough. You can experiment with all the other ingredients: use different flour, oil, different herbs for decoration, filling. Focaccia dough can be kneaded by hand or using a kneader. I always knead with my hands - I'm too lazy to wash the kneader.

If you don't have the leaven, it doesn't matter. You don't have to spend a week growing it - you can use the so-called Poolish instead. To do this, mix 50 g of water, 50 g of flour and 1-3 g of regular yeast the night before. Cover the batch for an hour, then close the lid and refrigerate overnight - you can start baking in the morning.

Also, questions may arise, what is the difference between strong flour and ordinary flour. Strong contains much more protein (from 10 g of protein per 100 g of flour), and accordingly, when interacting with water, gluten develops better. This is what we need. Most often on the shelves in stores, the high protein content of Italian flour.

Ingredients

- Wheat starter 100% - 194 g
- Strong flour (i.e. high in protein) - 148 g
- Water - 350 g
- Olive oil - 10 g
- Salt - 9 g

How to cook

Combine the water and sourdough (or Poolish) in a bowl, then add salt and flour, leaving no butter yet. Mix the ingredients together and continue kneading the dough until the gluten develops medium - it should become elastic. The dough may seem too wet, but refrain from adding more flour.

Continue kneading until the dough forms a ball. Add olive oil and stir in well - this will take about five minutes.

Transfer the dough to a plastic container and close the lid. After 30 minutes, do the first kneading - this is necessary for the good development of gluten in the dough. Then do 3 workouts every 30 minutes.

Transfer the dough into a rectangular dish with low sides, in which you will bake the focaccia. Grease the mold liberally with olive oil to prevent the dough from sticking.

Cover the dough and over the next two hours, gently, without tearing the dough, gradually stretch it from the center to the edges.

Let the dough stand intact under the lid for another 2 hours.

Moisten your hands with water and use your fingers to make indentations in the dough. Drizzle generously with olive oil. Decorate with whatever your heart desires: rosemary, cherry tomatoes, olives, herbs or even berries.

Bake for about 30 minutes in an oven preheated to 230 degrees.

Be sure to let the focaccia cool down a little.