Focaccia with Olives and Rosemary

I love this recipe...I love the texture and flavor of the focaccia. You can fool around with what you would like to put on it. If I have some Campari or Grape tomatoes I add those. I love serving this on a cold winter night with Escarole and Bean soup...a perfect dinner! And the house smells so good while this is baking. It is also wonderful for sandwiches. I love prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, roasted peppers,arugula and a little balsamic vinaigrette on this!

Last rise before the oven...


Focaccia with Olives and Rosemary
adapted from Bon Appétit | May 1995

This recipe was inspired by one from olive oil expert Lidia Colavita. You can make a meal around the bread by offering it as an accompaniment to bean soup.

Serves 8.
ingredients
2 cups warm water (105°F; to 115°F;)
2 teaspoons dry yeast ( I used the whole packet of SAF)

4 1/2 cups (about) all purpose flour ( I used only 4 1/4 cups)
2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons olive oil
24 black or green brine-cured olives (such as Kalamata or Greek),
pitted, halved
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried
preparation
Place 2 cups warm water in large bowl. Sprinkle dry yeast over; stir with fork. Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 10 minutes.

Add 4 1/4 cups flour and salt to yeast mixture and stir to blend well (dough will be sticky). Knead dough on floured surface until smooth and elastic, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls if dough is sticky, about 10 minutes. Form dough into ball. Oil large bowl; add dough, turning to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm area until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours. Punch down dough; knead into ball and return to same bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm area until doubled, about 45 minutes or less

Coat 15x10-inch baking sheet with 1 tablespoon oil. Punch down dough. Transfer to prepared sheet. Using fingertips, press out dough to 13x10-inch rectangle. Let dough rest 10 minutes. Drizzle 2 tablespoons oil over dough. Sprinkle olives and chopped rosemary evenly over. Let dough rise uncovered in warm area until puffy, about 25 minutes.

Preheat oven to 475°F. Press fingertips all over dough, forming indentations. Bake bread until brown and crusty, about 20 minutes. Serve bread warm or at room temperature.

* I followed the rising and baking times exactly but I did make this in the KA with the dough hook.My yeast did not look like it was doing anything so I added about 1/2 t. of honey to feed it a little. It still did not get really foamy and I think that was because it was in 2 cups of water so I just proceeded. I did not need to add any more flour after the 4 1/4 cups other than just dusting my counter after I took it out of the KA.I used the dough hook until the dough was formed around the hook.Then I kneaded it by hand on my counter for about 4 minutes before I put it in an oiled bowl to rise. I used a piece of parchment on my sheet pan and I used the tablespoon of oil on that...it baked up really nicely this way, no sticking to the pan. As my kids are not crazy about olives I only used some quartered seeded kalamata olives on part of the focaccia and I use some thinly sliced campari tomatoes on the entire thing...not too many as you can see in the picture, but they were delicious. I also used a probably close to two tablespoons of fresh rosemary and a good sprinkle of some French sea salt that is mixed with dried thyme(a dear friend brought this back from France for me and I only use it on special occasions) lacking that, some Maldon salt or some Fleur de Sel would be nice , a few nice pinches of some red pepper flakes and a few grinds of freshly ground black pepper...then to gild the lily I grated some Grana Padano all over the whole shebang....I have also used some Parmigiano Reggiano if that is what I have on hand.
It was perfectly baked in 20 minutes...