Tomato and Olive Focaccia
This tomato and olive focaccia is light, fluffy, and full of Mediterranean flavour. Topped with juicy seasoned tomatoes and olives, it’s the perfect Italian bread to share at any meal — from picnics to dinner parties.
Ingredients
- 180 ml (6.1 floz) lukewarm (35C) water
- 7 g (0.2 oz) sachet dried yeast
- 320 g (0.7 lb) plain flour
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp honey
- olive oil for greasing
- 2 tsp fine sea salt
For the topping:
- 1.5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp sea salt flakes
- 100 g (3.5 oz) cherry tomatoes halved
- 0.5 tsp Italian seasoning
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 14 pitted black olives
Instructions
Make the dough (see Notes):
- Look out two large bowls (one for mixing and one for resting) and a baking tin or tray.
- Either heat water in a kettle and mix hot water with cold or use hot water from the tap to get lukewarm water that sits at around 35C (use a meat thermometer to check). This temperature, when added to the dried yeast will “waken it up” for the fermentation process and give your bread the best chance.
- Place the dried yeast in a large bowl, mix in the warm water and leave to froth for a couple of minutes.
- Add the flour, extra virgin olive oil and honey to the yeast and water mixture.
- Lightly grease your hands with some olive oil, then pull together the mixture with your hands and knead for 5 minutes.
- Add the salt to the dough and knead until the dough looks smooth and elastic. By hand, this will take around 10 minutes of kneading, but you can use an electric mixer to cut this down to 5 minutes.
Rest the dough and bake:
- Shape the dough into a ball, put it in a bowl lightly coated in olive oil. Cover with cling film coated with some more olive oil and leave to rest for 20 minutes.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and keep the cling film for later. Stretch the dough by hand to make a rectangle about the same size as your baking tin or tray and then fold it over on itself 3 to 4 times. This step should give the bread its familiar soft chewy texture.
- Put a thin coat of olive oil on your baking tin or tray. Place the dough in the middle and cover with the same cling film used earlier. Put it somewhere warm and leave to prove for 90 minutes, or until doubled in size.
- Stretch the dough to cover your baking tin or tray and leave to rest for 30 minutes.
- Use your fingertips to press down all over the dough to create small holes all over and then drizzle over 0.5 tbsp of the extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle over 0.5 tbsp of the sea salt flakes.
- Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7 and rest the dough for a further 20 minutes. Meanwhile, put the halved tomatoes in a bowl with the Italian seasoning and 0.5 tbsp of the extra virgin olive oil. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and stir gently to combine. Set aside until the dough has finished resting.
- Press the tomato halves and olives into the small holes, drizzle over the remaining 0.5 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil and 0.5 tbsp of sea salt flakes.
- Bake the bread for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden. Remove from the oven and let it cool for 5 to 10 minutes before transferring it to a cooling rack.
Notes
- Make sure the water is warm enough.
- Coat your hands with olive oil when working with the dough.
- Always add the water to the yeast and not the other way around.
- Optional variations:
- Add sliced red onions or roasted garlic cloves.
- For a spicy kick add sliced jalapeños or a sprinkle of chilli flakes.
- Grate over some parmesan or pecorino before baking for a savoury depth.
- Caramelised onion – add sweet onions and a drizzle of balsamic glaze.
- Garlic herb – mix crushed garlic and herbs into the dough.
- Cheese lover – sprinkle with grated mozzarella or crumbled feta before baking.
- Minis – divide the dough into smaller portions for individual breads.
Nutrition
Calories: 1744kcal | Carbohydrates: 260g | Protein: 38g | Fat: 61g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 43g | Sodium: 12532mg | Potassium: 670mg | Fiber: 14g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 726IU | Vitamin C: 23mg | Calcium: 120mg | Iron: 17mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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