Bari, Puglia
Focaccia Barese
We spent a weekend practicing this focaccia before heading back to Puglia. Our recipe starts with Marc Vetri’s focaccia in his book, Mastering Pizza. It looks like a project, but you can make it in a single day.
Makes
1 pan
Level
Medium with a grown-up
Kids cook with a grown-up. Hot ovens, boiling water and frying are grown-up jobs, and sharp knives need a grown-up’s hands too.
Bella’s job
Mix the dough by hand, because Bella loves getting her hands dirty. A grown-up handles the hot oven.
Ingredients
Starter
00 flour: 200 g
Room-temperature water: 117 g
Active dry yeast: 2 g
Dough
00 flour: 510 g
Water: 435 g
Active dry yeast: 4 g
Sea salt: 17 g
Extra virgin olive oil: about 2 tablespoons, for the pan
Cherry tomatoes, halved: 1 pint, for the top
Pitted olives: about 1/2 cup, for the top
Method
Starter: mix the flour, water and yeast by hand or in a mixer until it turns into a shaggy mess. Cover and rest 2 to 4 hours somewhere cozy.
Dough: pour the water over the starter, add the yeast, then the flour, then the salt. Mix about 10 minutes. Cover and rest 2 to 4 hours at room temperature.
Shape: this dough is very wet. Rub olive oil all over the pan, sides too. Put the dough in and let it rest about an hour until it relaxes into the pan.
While the dough rests, heat a pizza stone or baking steel in the oven at 450 degrees F for 45 minutes.
Bake: wet your fingers with water or oil and press deep dimples into the dough. Top with tomatoes and olives, Barese style. Set the pan on the hot stone or steel and bake 18 to 20 minutes.
