Watercress Focaccia
Focaccia is a great bread to make at home. This one has watercress which adds a delicious tangy flavour that’s perfect served with hummus or dunked in soup.
The ferment is best made the night before – it can be done about an hour before you want to make the bread, but you will have to leave it in a warm place, and the dough will take a bit longer to prove.
Preparation 30 minutes (excluding making ferment and proving - around an hour and a half) | Cooking 30 minutes
Ingredients:
For the ferment:
340g water
10g fresh yeast, or 5g dried active yeast
250g strong plain white flour
For the loaf:
250g strong plain white flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for kneading and pouring
1 teaspoon salt
100g watercress, chopped finely
Method:
For the ferment, quickly whisk together the water, yeast and flour. Cover with cling film and leave until you are ready to make the bread.
To make the loaf, combine the ferment and all the other ingredients in a large bowl. Mix with your hands to form a rough dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly oiled work surface and knead for about 8 minutes (if you have a mixer, you can use this with a dough hook for about 4 minutes on a lowish speed). You want the dough to be smooth and pliable when it is ready - it will be sticky.
Put it in a bowl covered with a tea towel and leave it in a warm, draught-free place for around an hour. When it has proved, you should be able to lift the dough and see the air bubbles in it.
Grease a 20 x 30cm baking tin generously with olive oil (around 4-5 tablespoons) and lay a piece of parchment over the base to stop the focaccia sticking to the base of the tin.
Turn the dough onto an oiled work surface and fold it into a rectangle. Lay it in the tray and leave it covered for a further 30 minutes, somewhere warm. Preheat the oven to Gas 7/ 220C (it is worth doing this well in advance as you get a great rise if you pop the bread in a hot oven).
Once the bread has proved, dimple the surface with your fingers and drizzle it with more olive oil. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to Gas 6/200C and continue cooking for a further 20-25 minutes or until done. The bread will sound hollow when tapped on the base if it is cooked. If it is slightly undercooked you will get a dull sound, in which case return it to the oven for a few more minutes.
When the focaccia is cooked, turn it out and brush with more olive oil as it cools.
