weekend baking

ROSEMARY FOCACCIA

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my friend claire called this morning to ask for a recipe for rosemary focaccia, I thought it might make a nice weekend baking post. We make this a lot at home, its great for picnics, barbeques or with soup in the winter, it is also delicious filled with your favourite sandwich fillings. However served warm, slathered in green olive oil, close your eyes and dream that you are sitting in the sun in Liguria.

I use my breadmaker for this on pizza dough setting, if you don't have that setting then use the standard dough setting or make it by hand (ps. i am not delia - even though I'd like to be so my recipes aren't foolproof!!) then let it rise in the airing cupboard.

RECIPE

1/2 teaspoon dried yeast

300g bread flour (strong white)

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

200ml water

put the ingredients in your breadmaker in the order that the machine prefers(some machines specify water first, mine says the above order)

set to dough or pizza.

when the machine has done its job take out the dough. I spread mine on baking tray covered with a teflon liner (available in sainsburys or cookshops) I also scatter a sprinkle of fine semolina on the tray before putting the dough on. Both of these are not essential, I am. a) lazy, hence the liner, and b)greedy, hence the semolina which makes a nice coat for olive oil to stick to!!

flatten the dough out with your hand so it is about an inch thick, it doesn't matter what shape it is you are aiming for rustic simplicity, not factory!!

poke some dents in with your fingertips, rub gently and generously with olive oil, scatter with fresh rosemary and leave to rise somewhere warm.

when it is nicely puffed up (1-2hrs) drizzle with a little more olive oil and sprinkle generously with seasalt (not the coarse rock type).

Bake in preheated hot oven till golden and smelling delicious.

Remove from the oven and dribble over some really good olive oil which will sink in to the top and make it heavenly.

I make loads of variations of this, you can replace the Rosemary with cherry tomatoes, cubes of feta sprigs of thyme and a scatter of olives. Or you can put an olive in each indentation before you leave it to rise.

Either way enjoy and pretend you are sitting here!