Sourdough Focaccia with Rosemary & Sea Salt

Directions

• Combine the Sourdough Starter and 1st measure of water in a mixing bowl until the starter is evenly mixed and dissolved into the water
• Add the flour and use your dough scraper and/or hands to combine the flour with the watery starter. I like to use my hands and squeeze the dough to ensure no lumps or dry spots. All we’re aiming for here is a shaggy dough with no dry flour or obvious lumps.
• Rest for 30 mins at room temp (approx. 22°c for me)
• Add the salt into the remaining water (50g) and stir until dissolved
• Add the salty water to the shaggy dough and mix to ensure the salty water is distributed evenly throughout the dough. I normally fold and mix with my hands for around 5/10 mins until you have a dough that has come together as one.
• Rest for around 30 mins (22°c)
• With wet hands and the dough still in the mixing bowl, I reach under the dough at the top (12 o’clock) position and pull the dough away from me and then fold it over the top and in the centre of the dough. I then slightly rotate the bowl anti-clockwise and repeat this 6-8 times until I have turned the dough 360°.
  
  When stretching the dough I’m using instinct and feel to stretch it as much as I can without it starting to tear.
• Rest for around 30 mins (22°c)
• Repeat the stretch and folds 3 more times (4 times total) with a 30 minute rest in between each set.
• Rest for around 2 hours (22°c), you’ll expect to see it increase in volume by around 50% and hopefully see some bubbles starting to form
• Oil your baking pans with olive oil
• Take the dough out from the mixing bowl and divide equally. By eye if you’re a rebel or using scales if you’re like me and need to know for sure it’s exactly half 🙂
• Oil your hands to prevent sticking and move each dough carefully into the pans
• You can use your non stick hands to gently stretch the dough so that it is evenly distributed in the pan but don’t get too worried about this stage, it will naturally fill the pan as it relaxes during the next proof.
• Add a few tablespoons of olive oil to the top of the doughs and use your hands to ensure that it covers the whole dough.
• Cover the trays and place them into the fridge for 24+ hours. My fridge is around 3°c. I’ve left this dough in the fridge for 48 hours before and it makes no noticeable difference to the end result so feel free to leave for longer to suit you’lr schedule.
• BAKE
• Remove from fridge and rest for around 2 hours at room temperature (21°c)
• Around 30 mins before you are ready to bake, pre-heat the oven to 230c (220°c fan)
• Remove the rosemary leaves from the stalks and roughly chop.
• When your dough has rested, drizzle the top with extra virgin olive oil.
• I have found now is the best time to add any additions that might burn while cooking (sun dried tomatoes etc)
• Oil your hands and dimple the dough with your fingertips. Lots of dimples are good as the toppings and oil will work into these pockets.
  
  If you’ve already added toppings like sun dried tomatoes then I try and push these down into the dough so that they don’t catch in the oven and aren’t easily knocked off when slicing later.
• Sprinkle the top of your foccacia with sea salt flakes and the chopped rosemary.
• Bake for 15 mins
• Remove from the oven, turn and reduce heat to 210°c (195°c fan) and bake for another 15 minutes or until you have achieved a nice slightly browned top.
• Here I like to use an instant read thermometer and check the internal temperature of the dough. I aim for 200°c to know that the foccacia is cooked throughly. If you haven’t reached 200°c buy the top is browning too much then try adding a baking tray above the foccacia or covering in foil and bake until you hit 200°c
• Remove from the tray and cool on a wire rack.
• Enjoy your amazing Sourdough Foccacia! 😀