Farmette-Inspired Sea Salt Sourdough Focaccia Bread
Inspired by my trips to Harbor Country, and a new favorite spot for coffee and artisanal goodies, Farmette, this Sea Salt Sourdough Focaccia Bread recipe is coming soon.
What You’ll Need
1 1/2 cups sourdough starter
1 1/2 cups water, lukewarm
6 cups of bread flour
6 tbs olive oil, and a little extra for drizzling
1 tbs table salt
2 tbs honey
1 tbs instant yeast
Big flaky sea salt for topping
How to Make
Know before you go: this is a two-day culinary adventure.
On Day One:
First, let’s make our dough:
Pour the sourdough starter into a large bowl. Add the water, and whisk until the starter is fully dissolved in the water.
Add the flour and remaining ingredients to bowl, and use a spoon to lightly mix everything together, by hand or by stand mixer, until a shaggy dough forms.
Rest the dough for 30 minutes at room temperature.
Now, let’s give it some structure:
Stretch-and-fold the dough to build the structure of the dough, by grabbing a corner of the dough, stretch it up and away from the bowl, and fold it across to the other side. Turn the bowl 90 degrees, and repeat the stretch-and-fold. Do this 15-20 more times (I do it 22 times, because, well angel #s), turning the bowl each time, you will find that the dough will become stronger and less stretchy the more you fold it.
Loosely cover the bowl with a towel and rest the dough at room temperature until about doubled in size (~8 hours, but could very well be less).
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and rest it in the fridge overnight (at least 8 hours, max 24 hours).
On Day Two:
Your dough is almost ready for heat:
Drizzle an 9×13 baking pan with olive oil, and spread the oil to evenly coat the bottom and sides of the pan.
Remove dough from fridge, loosen it from bowl, and transfer upside down, into the baking pan.
Pat into a rough rectangle shape inside of the pan, gently stretching the top and bottom if needed.
Using both hands, gently pick up the bottom of the dough, pull it away from the pan, and fold it halfway on top of the dough. Next, pull the right side of the dough away from the pan, and fold it halfway on top of the dough again, overlapping the bottom portion. Repeat with the left side of the dough, and then finally the top, so you have a nice little square of dough.
Place your thumbs just underneath the bottom of the dough, and gently roll the dough over on top of itself, so that it's flipped over. The surface of the dough should now be nice and smooth, with maybe a few air bubbles. Leave the dough so that it’s resting neatly in the center of the pan.
Loosely cover with a towel, and rest at room temperature for about 4 hours, letting the dough spread to fit the pan.
Preheat the oven to 450° F
Time to give your dough the cutest dimples:
Drizzle dough with olive oil, and lightly oil your fingers. Dimple the dough all over with your fingers, poking through to the bottom of the pan, until the surface is covered in holes and there's lots of air bubbles. Sprinkle the top of the dough with olive oil and generous pinches of big flaky sea salt.
Let’s bake!
Bake the sourdough focaccia for 20-25 minutes, until the top is golden brown.
Remove the sourdough focaccia from the oven. Cool for at 30 minutes before slicing.
Enjoy!
