Redgate Kitchen

easy and delicious and you’ll be a rock star with family and friends

The best focaccia I ever tasted was in Santa Margherita, Ligure in Italy. I watched them make it at Panificio Fiordiponti. Lots of butter, chunky salt, plain, or with olives or rosemary. It may have helped that this was the view while enjoying said focaccia:

An impressive and super fun-to-make, easy no-knead focaccia recipe from Sarah Jampel (Bon Appetit’s Basically) is a serious treat. Allow yourself time – the longer you let the dough rise in the fridge (8-24 hours) the better the flavor.

ingredients

• 1 ¼-oz. envelope active dry yeast (about 2¼ tsp.)
• 2 tsp. honey
• 5 cups (625 g) all-purpose flour
• 5 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 Tbsp. Morton kosher salt
• 6 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus more for hands
• 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, plus more for pan
• Flaky sea salt
• 2–4 garlic cloves
• fresh rosemary, olives, sliced shallots (optional)

steps

1. Whisk one ¼ oz. envelope active dry yeast (2¼ tsp), 2 tsp honey, and 2½ cups lukewarm water in a medium bowl and let it sit 5 minutes.

2. Add 5 cups of all-purpose flour and 5 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 Tbsp. Morton kosher salt and mix with a rubber spatula until a shaggy dough forms.

3. Pour 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil into a big bowl that will fit in your refrigerator. This dough will seriously rise! Transfer the dough to the bowl and turn to coat in oil. Cover with plastic wrap and chill until dough is doubled in size (it should look very bubbly and alive), at least 8 hours and up to 1 day. If you’re in a rush, you can also let it rise at room temperature until doubled in size, 3–4 hours.

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4. Generously butter a 13×9″ baking pan, for thicker focaccia, or an 18×13″ rimmed baking sheet, for focaccia that’s thinner, crispier, and great for snacking. Pour 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil into center of pan. Keeping the dough in the bowl and using a fork in each hand, gather up edges of dough farthest from you and lift up and over into center of bowl. Give the bowl a quarter turn and repeat process. Do this 2 more times; you want to deflate dough while you form it into a rough ball. Transfer the dough to the prepared baking pan. Pour any oil left in the bowl over and turn the dough to coat it in oil. Let it rise, uncovered, in a dry, warm spot until doubled in size, at least 1½ hours and up to 4 hours.

4. Place a rack in middle of oven and pre-heat to 450℉. Oil your hands. If using a rimmed baking sheet, gently stretch out the dough to fill (you probably won’t need to do this if using a baking pan). Dimple focaccia all over with your fingers, creating very deep depressions in the dough (reach your fingers all the way to the bottom of the pan). Drizzle with remaining 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Bake focaccia until puffed and golden brown all over, 20–30 minutes.

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5. Melt 4 tbsp unsalted butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat. Peel and grate in 2–4 garlic cloves. Return to medium heat and cook, stirring often, until garlic is just lightly toasted, 30–45 seconds. Brush it over warm focaccia. Slice into squares and enjoy!

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