Rosemary Focaccia Bread with Dipping Oil
Make your own restaurant-style rosemary focaccia bread at home. Dip, crunch, and savor the flavors with this simple recipe.
Servings: 16 servings
Equipment
- 10" cast iron skillet
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 1/4 tsp or a 1/4 ounce packet of instant or regular dry active yeast. I use instant yeast.
- 2 Tbsp fresh or dried rosemary
- 1 tsp kosher or sea salt
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus more for topping the dough.
- 1 cup lukewarm water (100-110°F)
- Italian seasoning
- coarse or finishing salt, I like Maldon
dipping oil, optional
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- balsamic vinegar to taste
- Italian seasoning
Instructions
- Put the flour, dry yeast, rosemary and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer (you can also do this by hand) and mix to combine.
- With the mixer on low add the warm water and 1 tablespoon of olive oil, mixing until a soft wet dough forms. It will be sticky.
- Cover and let rise for an hour in a warm place. It should be puffed up slightly.
- Meanwhile preheat the oven to 425F. Oil your pan and line with a circle of parchment paper to prevent sticking.
- Turn the dough into your prepared skillet. Note: if your dough seems excessively sticky you can dust it with a little extra flour to make it easier to handle. Use your fingers to press it out to fill the skillet.
- Put some olive oil in a small bowl and dip your fingers into the oil, and then poke little indents all over the bread, leaving little pools of oil. Do this all over the surface. Don’t skimp; this will result in great flavor after the bread is baked, you might use as much as 1/4 cup.
- Scatter a bit of Italian seasoning and coarse or finishing salt over the surface.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until golden and crusty.
- Remove the bread from the pan. Slice with a sharp knife into thin wedges.
Dipping oil
- Put olive oil in a wide shallow bowl. Even a plate with a slight depression will work.
- Drizzle the vinegar over the surface of the oil. You can customize how tangy the dipping oil will be, just add the vinegar to taste. A general rule of thumb is to go for a 4:1 ratio of oil to vinegar.
- Garnish with Italian seasoning.
Notes
*You may notice I don't dissolve or proof my yeast first. There is new thinking on this in the baking world, and with modern reliable yeasts that are used within their expiration date there is no need to dissolve or proof them first. I've been doing it this way for years without any issues. But go ahead and dissolve first if you're more comfortable with that.
Here's how to proof yeast:
- Warm water: Start with warm water, around 100-110°F. This temperature range is ideal for activating the yeast without killing it.
- Dissolve sugar: Add a small amount of sugar to the water (usually about 1 teaspoon for 1 packet of yeast).
- Add yeast: Sprinkle the yeast over the surface of the water. Stir gently to dissolve the yeast in the water.
- Check: After 5-10 minutes, check the mixture. If it has become foamy and bubbly, the yeast is active and ready to use. If there is no foam, the yeast is likely dead, and you should start over with a new batch of yeast.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 slice · Calories: 365 kcal · Carbohydrates: 12 g · Protein: 2 g · Fat: 35 g · Saturated Fat: 5 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 4 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 25 g · Sodium: 147 mg · Potassium: 24 mg · Fiber: 1 g · Sugar: 0.04 g · Vitamin A: 8 IU · Vitamin C: 0.2 mg · Calcium: 6 mg · Iron: 1 mg
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although The View from Great Island attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
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