I am the dummy that proofed that sourdough foccacia. Yes, cooking I can handle, but with baking, I’m pretty sure I’m a dummy… You can’t really wing baking unless you’re a baking mastermind, and baking mastermind I am not! With cooking, I often go by intuition if things go off path..with baking..when applied with the same response, I get a brick my husband tells me to offer up to the compost Gods, and he’s not one to EVER waste food!

But this focaccia is LIT. I mean, holy crap. I LOVE BREAD. I love crusty bread with super chewy, stretchy centers. You know the artisan loaf you buy at Whole Foods or the bougie local bakery that you buy so often of it has its own line on your monthly budget? That’s the type of bread I adore too much, and if you don’t believe me, just look at my photos before I discovered my love of bread after college and in college. My body looks like it went through bulk proofing, but WHATEVER. YOU LIVE ONCE (unless your Buddhist, but your next reincarnation can be gluten free, so your gamble homies).

Since this requires one longgggg bulk proof, I found that it works out if I start my dough at night before calling it quits (11pm for me) if I want bread for lunch or dinner. I proof overnight until 1-2 pm and then have the second proof until 4, dinner at 5. If I want it for lunch I’ll make the dough a little earlier in the evening around 8pm proof overnight and the next day around 8-9 am do my second proof and have it in the oven by 10-11 am.

Ingredients you need on hand:
1. Bread flour (If you don’t have this, you need vital wheat gluten and all purpose flour)
2. Room temp water
3. Coarse sea salt
4. Maldon Salt
5. Extra virgin Olive Oil
6. Sourdough Starter (you can look up how to make this, OR ask a baking buddy for their discard)

Materials Needed:
1. Scale
2. Large glass bowl for mixing or tall 4L plastic container

Step 1. Make sure your sourdough starter is ready to go. Plop a little bit in a glass of water, and if it floats, you’re good!

Step 2. Measure out 430 g of room temp water, add in 70 g sourdough starter, 10 gram coarse sea salt. Combine with your favorite tool. Mine is a rice paddle.

Step 3 for people with bread flour on hand. Add 510 g of bread flour and mix to combine

Step 3 for people who have all purpose flour and vital wheat gluten. Tare your scale to 0 with your bowl of wet ingredients. Add 6 teaspoons of vital wheat gluten and mix this in. Add enough all purpose flour until your scale reads 510 g.

Step 4. Half an hour or 45 minutes after combining your ingredients, turn the dough by pulling from the sides up and down the center. Let your dough proof until doubled in size. This is your bulk proofing stage. If you’re in Seattle like I am, and it’s about 65-68 degrees F in your house, it usually takes up to 12-14 hours for me.

Step 5. Drizzle 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil over the dough and rub it all around, pull the dough out of the bowl or proofing container and into a buttered 9 x 13 inch pan with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. Pull the dough’s side out and tuck it underneath so you have a nice rectangular shape. Rub the exposed dough with the oil in the pan. Be careful while doing this step to make sure you preserve all the air bubbles.

Step 6. Dimple the dough using your fingertips pushing out the dough so it fits your pan. Again, do this with carefully to preserve all your bubbles! Sprinkle the top with Maldon sea salt or whatever flaky salt you have.

Step 7. Pre-heat your oven to 425, bake for 25 minutes of when top has a nice brown look. I like to cook it a little under 25 minutes (20-23) so that I can toast the bread up again when I get to eating it.

This bread is AMAZING by itself since it’s got all that yummy extra virgin olive oil and Maldon sea salt, but pesto or pate makes this even more amazing! It’s not unusual for bread lovers to eat half this loaf in a span of less than 10 minutes so don’t be bewildered when your last bite becomes ..errr not your last bite haha. I’ve witnessed this multiple times ;).

If you’d like to make a French inspired pate, check out my simple French inspired pate recipe! haha 🙂