500g Wheat flour (type 405 )
7 g dry yeast
5g salt
3g sugar
1tbsp ground flax seed (optional)
340ml lukewarm wat
(Add 2tsp weinstein powder in case you want to shorten the fermentation time)
＋10ml EV olive oil (for the step 6)
＋Toppings of your choice (cherry tomatoes /olives/Herbs)
＋Some more olive oil for applying with a brush (for the step 9,11 )
Salt and pepper
(1) Add all the dried ingredients in a big bowl.
The key is to place the dried yeast right next to the sugar.
(2)Pour some lukewarm water to the center of the flour well and let stand for 2 minutes. It will activate the yeast and starts to produce the bubbles.
(3) Pour the rest of the lukewarm water and slowly mix all the ingredients with
a spoon ,or knife ( it’s very sticky at first ,so don’t touch with hand yet)
(4) When the flour is moistened all the way through, let it rest again for about 3 minutes. This 3-minute waiting time makes it much easier to knead by hand in the next step.
(5) Wet your hands first, then knead the dough.
It will be very sticky for the first 3 minutes, but after about 5 minutes.
(6)When the dough hardly sticks to your hands, add 10 ml of olive oil and mix it into the dough.
(7) Allow the oil-coated balls of dough to ferment in a warm place for 1 hour.
Personally I place the dough in the lighted oven and place a mug of boiling water next to the dough to keep the oven humid but not hot.
(8)After 1 hour, check to see that the dough has doubled in volume.
(9)Brush the baking sheet with olive oil.
(roughly 8 ml)
(10) Spread the dough into a rectangle to fit the shape of the baking sheet while letting out the gas of the dough that has completed the first fermentation. It can be easily rolled out by hand. let it rise another 20mins.
Start preheating the oven at 180°C.
(11) While applying about 10 ml of olive oil with a brush.
Make many small cavities to place toppings later.
(12) Place the toppings of your choice .
(13) I added some olives ,cherry tomatoes and sprinkled some Italian herb (mixed spice)
(14) If the oven is ready by now.(180℃)
Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
When the focaccia is baked, brush the surface with a small amount of oil (Optional)
Sprinkle some salt and pepper to taste.(Optional)
Ok!
This is not the healthiest food that you can eat daily, because it’s more like a comfort food than whole food.
Oil and white flour are processed products though,
whether it's a cake or white bread, if it's shared with a large group of people, it's not a health hazardous amount.
As long as it’s made from plant based ingredients, that means at least
it contains as little saturated fat and zero cholesterol.
To add more fiber you can add some flaxseeds and or chia seeds in the dough.
But if you are replacing white flour with whole wheat flour, you will need to add
much more water to kneed the dough.
This entire focaccia contains 70 grams of protein. Although it appears to be a carbohydrate rich food, German wheat is actually very rich in protein.
However, to balance the amino acid contents, I recommend adding beans to the rest of your meal to enjoy with this yummy focaccia:)