Rosemary Focaccia

Tis the season for hearty soups and stews, well for most of the country that is.  Here in AZ it has been in the 90’s still during the day, just unseasonably hot.  Nothing accompanies a nice stew like bread, and not just any bread, Rosemary Focaccia.  This focaccia has a fluffy texture and with it’s indentations, sops up all that saucy goodness from your bowl.

I always thought that making homemade Italian bread was super labor intensive.  This bread is anything but, it takes five minutes in a mix master to make the dough.  The length in preparation comes with the rising of the dough, but don’t skip or rush this process.  The rising time equates to how fluffy or dense your bread will be after baking.  It is time consuming yes, but it also gives you a chance to multitask.  Which as all moms know is the key to a streamlined day.

This focaccia is bursting with fresh rosemary flavor.  Adding a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and sprinkling sea salt over the freshly baked warm bread makes it irresistible, seriously.  My daughter and I literally ate half of the loaf in one sitting, it is that good!

Ingredients:

• ½ Cup warm water
• 6 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 Tablespoons Sugar
• 1 (0.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 2 ½ Cups all purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons sea salt
• 1/4 Cup minced fresh rosemary

Directions:

Prepare the master dough first.  In a medium bowl, stir together the warm water, sugar and yeast.  Let stand until bubbling, about 5 minutes.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitter with a paddle attachment, combine the flour and salt.  With mixer on low speed add the yeast mixture and 2 Tablespoons of the olive oil, and half of rosemary stirring until combined.  Switch from a paddle to dough hook on the mixer.  Beat at medium speed until dough is smooth and elastic, about 7 minutes.

Spray a large bowl with cooking spray.  Place dough in bowl, turning to grease top.  Wet a hand towel with water and squeeze all water out.  Cover bowl with towel and place bowl in a warm place until doubled in size, about an hour.

While the dough is rising, drizzle 2 Tablespoons of olive oil in the bottom of skillet to coat.

Lightly punch down the dough and knead into a circle the circumference of the cast iron skillet.

Place dough in skillet recover and let rise again for 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Uncover skillet and pinch dough to make little divots in the top of the bread.

Pour remaining olive oil over the top of the bread filling up the little divots and sprinkle with sea salt and remaining rosemary.

Bake uncovered for 20 minutes until golden brown.