Ingredients:
All purpose flour / Maida – 3 cups
Salt – 1-1/2 tsp
Active dry yeast – 2 tsp
Sugar – a pinch
Warm Water – 3/4 cup to 1 cup
Extra Virgin Olive Oil – 3 tbsp + 2 tbsp + more for greasing
Sea salt – 1/2 tsp
Italian seasoning – 1 tsp
Onion – thinly sliced – 1/2 cup
Garlic – 3 cloves – julienne
Method:
Sieve the flour and salt together. Place the yeast and sugar in a small bowl. Pour 3/4 cup of lukewarm* water over it and allow the yeast to bloom, about 3-5 minutes. Mix 3 tbsp of oil to the water. Pour the warm water with yeast over the flour and knead together to form a dough, sprinkling water as needed. After the dough comes together, knead for about 5 minutes. Place in a well oiled glass bowl and cover with a plastic wrap. Place in a warm place for about 2 hours to rise, or it doubles it size. Punch down the dough and spread it in a 9×9 square pan greased with olive oil. If the dough does not spread to the whole pan, give it a few minutes and try again. When the dough is fully spread in the pan, make little dimples all over it with the index finger. Mix the italian seasoning with 2 tbsp of oil and brush all over the dough. Spread the onion and garlic and gently press over the dough. Bake the bread for 40-45 minutes, in an oven preheated to 375 F.
Cool the pan over the cooling rack. Slice the bread into little pieces and serve.
Notes: This foccacia is thick enough to slice for a sandwich. To help the dough rise, I preheated my oven to “Warm” mode for a couple of minutes and then turned it off and placed the dough inside to rise.
*Lukewarm – warm to the touch, like a baby’s bottle.
