Artisan Focaccia Bread
Foolproof artisan bread. It’s crusty on the outside, soft on the inside and loaded with garlic, a hint of salt and lots of cheese!
Ingredients
- For the focaccia bread:
- 1 pizza dough ball
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- Salt to taste
- 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
- For the dough ball:
- 3 cups warm water
- 1 Tablespoon active dry yeast
- 1 Tablespoon salt
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 2 1/2 cups bread flour
Instructions
For the Dough:
You will want a large, clean bowl to make and hold the dough in. Measure 3 cups warm water into the bucket; add yeast, salt, and flour. Mix until all the flour is moist, the dough should be firm but sticky. Let this rise until it doubles, about 1 hour. The dough is now ready to shape into dough balls or put in the fridge until it is ready to use, this will last 3 days. The dough is much easier to handle after being chilled in the fridge. Scrape dough out of the bucket and shape into 6 dough balls the size of a large orange. Let them rise at room temperature for 30 minutes if not chilled, and about 2 hours if chilled.
The bread flour in the recipe is required in order to be able to stretch your dough very thin. You will find that a rolling pin will not be necessary. The dough should also be wetter than normal dough so that your pizza crust will have the air pockets of true artisan bread. Use flour to coat the dough so you can handle it. Stretch to about a 12 inch pizza, dust a pizza peel with flour, put the dough on it and top your pizza.
Note: If you choose to use pre-made dough such as Rhodes, it works fine. Just be aware that your crust will be thicker and you may need to use a rolling pin. You will also want to cook your pizza at a lower temperature for a bit longer.x
For the Focaccia Bread:
Begin by stretching a dough ball into a thin 12” round and laying it on a floured pizza peel. Sprinkle olive oil and salt evenly onto dough. Put a small amount of grated Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese on top. The cheese should be less than half of what it would be on the pizza.