How to Make Focaccia Like an Award-Winning Pizza Chef
I met with the pizza champion, Lucio De Falco, and we set out in order to make the perfect focaccia, and luckily, we have done just that! With a few simple ingredients, time, and dedication, we made the best focaccia I have ever tasted.
The Focaccia bread has a beautiful golden brown bottom with an airy, fluffy inside and crunchy top. The taste of the extra virgin olive oil seeps through the bread and is absolutely divine. We split the focaccia up into three sections with separate toppings for each. The topping combination was incredible, from rosemary and salt to caramelized onions and potatoes.
Watch the Focaccia Bread video recipe:
How to Make Focaccia Like an Award-Winning Pizza Chef
Vincenzo’s Plate Tips
Use Two Different Flours (Le 5 Stagioni Farina “OO” Flour Blue and Le 5 Stagioni Farina “OO” Flour Classic)
The best way to make focaccia is with two different flours. Le 5 Stagioni Farina “OO” Flour Blue contains a higher protein content, which gives the dough more structure. On the other hand if you can’t find this flour, you should find an “OO” flour with medium to high protein content, which is around 11-13 grams of protein.
Fresh vs. Dry Yeast
If the yeast is fresh, add it to the water and mix. If the yeast is dry, add it directly to the Le 5 Stagioni Farina “OO” Flour Classic and mix. You can use either fresh or dry yeast to make focaccia. Obviously both methods result in the same delicious focaccia!
Use a Stand Mixer
Don’t want to get your hands dirty? No problem! Of course you can use a stand mixer to do the mixing for you. Add all of the ingredients into the bowl like normal.
Always Make Sure Your Dough Is Covered
Always make sure the dough is covered with saran wrap or a cloth. Otherwise, if the dough is not covered, it will quickly become dry.
How to Serve Focaccia
Move the Focaccia to a wooden chopping board and cut it into rectangles with a pair of scissors. Scissors will cut the focaccia perfectly and keep the bread airy and soft.
Focaccia
Equipment
- 30x40 inches baking tray 76.2x 101.6 cm
- Small metal mixing bowl
- Saran wrap
- Stand mixer
- 2 Large wooden chopping boards
- Large metal tray
- Olive oil dispensing bottle
- Spatula
- Scissors
Ingredients
For the Focaccia
- 550 grams Le 5 Stagioni Farina “OO” Flour Blue 19.4 oz
- 150 grams Le 5 Stagioni Farina “OO” Flour Classic 5 oz
- 15 grams EVOO 0.5 oz
- 15 grams Salt 1.7 oz
- 2 grams Yeast (fresh or dry) 0.07 oz
- 500 grams Water 18 oz
For the Toppings
- Rosemary, salt, oregano
- Cherry tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, black olives, green olives, red onions
- Caramelized onions, potatoes, oregano
Instructions
To prepare the dough:
- Add the yeast to the water and mix the yeast and water together. (If the yeast is fresh, add it to the water; if the yeast is dry, add it directly to the flour and mix.)
- Slowly add the Le 5 Stagioni Farina “OO” Flour Classic. Mix the flour slowly with your hands. The dough should still be a bit sticky.
- Add the Le 5 Stagioni Farina “OO” Flour Blue and mix everything together. Clean the bowl with your hands to get all of the flour.
- Add the salt and keep mixing.
- Add EVOO to get an incredible smell once it is baked!
- Mix the dough well to ensure it absorbs all of the EVOO. The high-protein flour will keep the dough well hydrated, so you don't have to knead the dough for a long time.
- Let the dough rest at room temperature for an hour or a maximum of 2 hours.
- Then, let the dough rest in the refrigerator for 12 hours.
- Once the dough is finished resting in the refrigerator, it will be soft and fluffy.
- Prepare two large cutting boards and place them next to each other to create a ‘bench.’
- Sprinkle some flour on the cutting board and place the dough on the bench.
- Fold the dough inwards, making a few folds, and press down on the dough.
- Once it has been folded, place the dough back into the metal bowl and wrap it in saran wrap.
- Let the dough rest at room temperature for 2 hours until it becomes a high, soft dough.
- Rub EVOO on your hands and scoop the dough out onto the bench.
- Slowly stretch the dough with your fingers and make sure the dough fits across the large baking tray.
- Add EVOO to the metal tray. Move the large slab of dough onto the tray.
- Let the dough rest in the tray with saran wrap or a cloth. Don’t let the dough dry up.
- Carefully unwrap the dough. The dough should have doubled in size, and it should be very wet and wobbly.
- Add a generous amount of EVOO on top of the dough.
- Add the Toppings
- Once the dough is ready, you can start to prepare your toppings.
- Gently poke indents into the dough with all of your fingers.
- Then top the focaccia with any ingredients you want.
- Once you are done adding the toppings, add more EVOO to the top of the focaccia.
To Cook the Focaccia:
- Heat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius (428 degrees Fahrenheit)
- Let the focaccia cook for 20-25 minutes. It will be done when the top is golden brown.
- Pull the focaccia out of the oven and scoop it out with a spatula.
- Place the focaccia on a wooden cutting board and cut it into rectangles with a pair of scissors
Video
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Made this exactly as shown in the video. The best I have ever had. Absolutely awesome. It is worth the time.
Homemade focaccia is indeed a labor of love, and it’s wonderful to know that you found it worth the time and effort.
Hi Vincenzo, firstly thanks for the nice recipe! I tried to make focaccia, but dough rises too slow with 2 grams of yeast. I live in Lithuania, northern Europe, so I managed to get only “il Molino” brand of farina. Then I put the dough on the metal tray, 2 hours was not enough to rise it. I think next time I should use 5-10 grams of yeast, to let the dough rise quicker. What would be your advice?
Ciao! I’m glad you enjoyed the focaccia recipe. I’m sorry to hear that the dough didn’t rise quickly enough for you.
There are a few things you can do to help the dough rise faster, especially in a cooler climate like Lithuania.
Use more yeast: 5-10 grams.
Warm up the water before mixing it into the dough.
Place the dough in a warm spot.
Preheat the metal tray before placing the dough on it.
Hi Vincenzo,
I think 2g of yeast is a mistake; it certainly didn’t turn out very nice when I tried it.
Did you intend 2 sachets of dry yeast? (that would approx. correspond to other flour/yeast ratio you use for other focaccia recipes you provide?
Thanks
Stefano
Ciao Stefano! Grazie for reaching out, and I appreciate your feedback. Can you try using 7g (1 packet) of dry yeast for the focaccia recipe and see how it goes. I hope this adjustment brings you better results in your focaccia making!
Thank you! Making this now and wondering if the potatoes are raw or pre cooked.
Thanks!
Grazie for trying the focaccia recipe! The potatoes are thinly sliced raw.
Ciao I want to make this recipe for a village lunch so the bread needs to be finished and ready to go the the village hall by 11am. Can I complete the final prove in the tin overnight in the fridge and then allow to come to room temperature prior to cooking please?
Ciao! Exciting plan for the village lunch! Yes, you can do the final prove in the fridge overnight. Take it out a bit before baking to let it come to room temperature.
Made this yesterday….turned out good. Except the dough didn’t rise as much as expected. I used dry yeast….and as my home is cooler in the winter and I am to cheap to turn up the heat (house is 20 degrees C) I used 3 grams of dry yeast. Maybe next time I’ll use 5? Also baked in wood oven.
If the dough didn’t rise enough, tweaking the yeast is a good idea. Warmer environments can slow the rise, so increasing to 5 grams might help.
Made this today, the bottom was way too crispy might be because my oven couldn’t be at 220 c, so it took long time to be cooked through, btw, i used 4 grams of dry yeast. I will give it a try again, thank you for the vdo and the recipe.
Ciao Aier! Thank you for trying the focaccia recipe! If your oven can’t reach 220°C, try baking at a lower temperature for a bit longer. Using a thicker baking sheet or pizza stone can help prevent the bottom from getting too crispy. Also, make sure the dough rises well before baking. I hope these tips help, and I look forward to hearing how your next attempt goes!
Thank you, my second attempt was yesterday, this time I used the pizza stone and it turned out better! Thanks again for the reply and for the advice, I will keep practising.
Ciao Aier! That’s awesome to hear! I’m so glad the pizza stone made a difference. You’re definitely on the right track to becoming a baking master ! 😊 Keep up the great work!
Thank you!
Thank you.
You’re welcome! Happy Cooking! 😊