Homemade Focaccia is a pillowy soft Italian bread baked flat in a tray and flavoured with olive oil, rosemary, and salt. It’s easy to make the dough in your electric bread maker and focaccia is a really versatile bread, perfect to serve as an appetiser with good olive oil or to serve with soups or stews.
Why should I make Foaccia in a bread machine?
Focaccia is not difficult to make. However, making bread by hand can be time-consuming and also quite physical. If that’s what you like then go ahead and make the recipe by hand. But I like to use my bread machine to do the hard work of kneading the dough. It also means I can get on with some other jobs while the bread machine does it’s work. .
What is Focaccia?
The word Focaccia is Italian for ‘hearth’ and it is said that the little dimples in the bread helped the bread to bake on the hearth. Italy is a country that has many different types of bread. There are said to be over 350 different regional variations.
There are different variations of Focaccia too, my bread is simply topped with olive oil, salt, and rosemary, but you can also add cheese, tomatoes, or olives. If you have a sweet tooth you can make a Focaccia dolce or sweet bread and add honey, fruit, or sugar.
What do I need to make Focaccia?
You will need:
- Strong white bread flour
- Fast actionyeast
- Salt
- Caster sugar
- Water
- White wine
- Olive Oil
- Rosemary
- Sea salt flakes
What kind of flour should I use to make Focaccia?
Use strong white bread flour. This type of flour is high in gluten which creates the structure of the bread. In the US use flour that is labelled ‘bread flour’ although it is also possible to make bread with All Purpose flour.
What kind of oil should I use?
Use the best olive oil you can afford. It really does make a difference to the flavour of the bread, especially for the oil you drizzle over the baked bread.
There are many different grades of olive oil and not all Extra Virgin Olive Oil is the same. It’s well worth reading up a little about how to choose the right olive oil for your purpose and how to store it to maintain its quality. I am not an expert in this area so I suggest that you check out a specialist site.
Why use Sea Salt flakes?
Sea Salt comes in different forms. It can be in the form of crystals which are small hard pieces of salt that are good to use in cooking or in a salt grinder. Sea Salt Flakes are great for finishing dishes because they dissolve quickly in your mouth and give just a hint of saltiness.
What can I substitute for the white wine?
If you don’t drink alcohol or simply don’t have any wine available you can substitute the equivalent amount of water. The wine does add a little bit of fruity flavour to the focaccia but it will still make a very delicious bread without the wine.
Can I make the focaccia gluten-free ?
This recipe is for a standard focaccia dough and does contain gluten. You can find a range of gluten-free bread recipes on the Gluten-Free Alchemist website that you can adapt to make something close to this recipe.
Is Focaccia sutiable for vegetarians?
There are no animal products included in Focaccia, so it is suitable for vegetarians.
Can I freeze Focaccia?
Yes, the bread freezes really well. Freeze the focaccia before you add the final drizzle of olive oil. Open freeze the whole focaccia or cut it into pieces and freeze them on a tray. Store the frozen focaccia in a freezer-proof container or bag. You can keep the frozen bread without any deterioration for up to 3 months.
Thaw the whole focaccia by placing back into the roasting tin and covering it with a tea towel for about an hour. Then refresh the bread in the oven for 5-10 minutes. Drizzle over the extra olive oil. If you have cut the focaccia into pieces you can place them directly onto a baking tray and heat for 10 minutes then drizzle with oil.
How do I serve Focaccia?
There are lots of different ways to serve focaccia. Here are some you might like to try:
- Serve as an appetiser cut into pieces with a bowl of good extra virgin olive oil to dip the bread into.
- Cut into large squares and split crossways through the middle. Fill with your favourite sandwich fillings.
- Focaccia is great to serve with soup and also with any dish that has a lot of sauce. Use the bread to soak up the sauce.
More Bread Recipes
Easy Sourdough Bread in the bread machine is a simple solution for busy people. Make a really delicious sourdough style loaf without the work involved in looking after a sourdough starter.
Wholemeal Irish Soda Bread is a very quick and easy bread that doesn’t use yeast at all. It’s really tasty and you can even bake it in your Airfryer!
No-Knead Bread is a very simple recipe that makes a really delicious crusty loaf of bread. Although it takes a bit of time to make, most of that does not involve you. Just leave the dough to do its magic then bake!
Focaccia (Bread Machine)
Equipment
- read machine
- roasting tin
- weighing scales
- Measuring spoons
Ingredients
- 500 grams strong white flour
- 2 teaspoon fast action dried yeast
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon caster sugar
- 175 millilitres water
- 75 millilitres white wine
- 75 millilitres olive oil
- 2 tablespoon rosemary finely chopped
- 3 tablespoon olive oil for drizzling
- sea salt flakes for scattering
Instructions
- 500 grams strong white flour, 2 teaspoon fast action dried yeast, 1 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon caster sugar, 175 millilitres water, 75 millilitres white wine, 75 millilitres olive oilPut the flour, yeast, salt, sugar, water, wine and olive oil nto your bread maker and set for dough.
- When the dough programme finishes, roll or pull the dough out.
- Oil a baking sheet or roasting tin and fill with the dough.
- Cover with a tea towel and put in a warm place to rise for about an hour to an hour and a half.
- 2 tablespoon rosemary, sea salt flakes for scatteringUs your fingertips to gently press into the surface of the dough, brush with a little olive oil and scatter over the rosemary and sea salt.
- Heat the oven to 200C and bake for 30 minutes until golden brown.
- 3 tablespoon olive oil for drizzlingDrizzle with the remaining olive oil.
Fiona Maclean says
the salmon and foccacia both look great, but that's quite expensive oil…
Fuss Free Helen says
How groovy is Groovy as a brand name.
I've never come across them before.
Love the sound of the high 5. Seed oils rock! I'd be making some biscuits for cheese with it.
Janice says
Fiona – yes it is quite expensive, it worked best with the fish. I would go back to olive for the bread.
Helen – yeah pretty cool name! Biscuits for cheese sound good, any recipe suggestions?
Baking Addict says
Your focaccia looks great!! The salmon looks delicious too. They are definitely expensive oils! I can't imagine focaccia without olive oil.
Corina says
I love the look of the salmon – I can't see myself actually getting this oil to make it though!
Dom at Belleau Kitchen says
woah!… there's a lot going on here… LOVE the focaccia… LOVE the pretty olive oil bottles too and as for the salmon, bloody gorgeous!… what a wonderful meal… I MUST make a focaccia… always wanted to but never have… nice work!
Janice says
I'm surprised you haven't made Focaccia, Dom! Not sure mine is terribly authentic, but it tastes good.
laura@howtocookgoodfood says
Love focaccia so much have to limit making it or eat way too much. Interested in the oils which do sound good but fear they may struggle to sell well due to their price tag. Delicious salmon too I should say!!
Karen S Booth says
FABULOUS food and I LOVE that salmon Janice! Lovely recipes…..
Janice says
Thanks Karen.
BavarianSojourn says
Hello! Just wanted to let you know you are featured over at BritMums this month in the May Foodie Round-up
Janice says
Thanks for letting me know about the Britmums foodie round up 😀
Cat | Curly's Cooking says
I love focaccia and this bread machine version is so simple and delicious.
Janice Pattie says
Thank you, Cat. We love it!