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Zoe Bakes Focaccia

Focaccia

byZoë François
Total 3 hours and 30 minutes (includes resting time)
Active 30 mins
Cook 20 minutes
Makes One 8-inch round loaf
Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • One 8-ounce ball 00 Pizza Dough (recipe below)
  • Choice of toppings, such as 3 rosemary sprigs, 1/4 cup sliced roasted red peppers, and/or 1/4 cup sliced pitted olives
    00 Pizza Dough:
    • 3 cups lukewarm water
    • 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling
    • 1 tablespoon active dry or instant yeast
    • 1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus a pinch for topping
    • 1 tablespoon sugar
    • 1 kilogram (8 cups) 00 caputo flour, plus more for dusting
      Directions
      1. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
      2. Grease an 8-inch cast iron skillet with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil.
      3. Flatten the ball of 00 Pizza Dough into a 1/2-inch-thick round. Place the round into the prepared skillet. Drizzle with 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil, dimple the dough with your fingers, and let it rest for about 30 minutes.
      4. Cover the dough with the remaining 1/2 tablespoon oil and the desired toppings, pressing them firmly into the dough.
      5. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
      1. 00 Pizza Dough:
        1. Mix and store the dough: Put the water in a 5-quart bowl or in a lidded (not airtight) plastic food container and add the olive oil, yeast, salt, and sugar. Or use a heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with the dough attachment. Then add all of the flour and mix with a wooden spoon, dough whisk, or the mixer. Cover with a lid (not airtight). Allow the dough to rise at room temperature, approximately 2 hours.
        2. Shape the dough balls: After rising, divide the dough into 8 equal balls. For each ball, pull up and cut off a half-pound (orange-sized) piece of dough, using a serrated knife or kitchen shears. Hold the piece of dough in your hands and add a little more flour as needed so it won’t stick to your hands. Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the dough a quarter-turn as you go to form a ball. Most of the dusting flour will fall off.
        3. Refrigerate the dough balls, each wrapped well in plastic wrap, and use over the next week, or freeze for up to 2 months. Adapted from "Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day Recipe: The Homemade Bread Revolution Continues" by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François © Thomas Dunne Books, 2011. Provided courtesy of Zoë François. All rights reserved.