My Noni used to make a fried version of this that she called figasa. They were little nuggets of puffy bread, deep fried in olive oil, and sprinkled with salt. Absolute heaven! And I have not been able to duplicate her recipe to save my life.
What I can make is the more traditional foccacia. This too is really heavenly. It takes a little work, but sometimes it’s just worth it. This recipe is for the basic foccacia, which we’ll eat plain, with butter, or dipped in seasoned olive oil. You could also get creative and bake it with various toppings, like thinly sliced tomatoes, olives, garlic, onions….
This recipe is timed to yield warm foccacia for dinner at 6:00.
THE NIGHT BEFORE, make the biga. (yeast starter)
Stir together in a large bowl: 1/2 cup flour, 1/3 cups water (100 to 110 degrees), & 1/4 tsp yeast. Cover with plastic wrap and leave out at room temperature overnight (at least 70 degrees).
THE NEXT DAY:
2:00 – Make your dough by adding to the bowl of biga: 2-1/2 cups unbleached flour, 1-1/4 cup warm water (100-110 degrees), 1 tsp yeast, and 1 Tablespoon olive oil. Stir the ingredients together just until it comes together and there are no more dry ingredients. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place to rest. I also sometimes add 1-2 teaspoons of Italian seasonings.
2:30 – Sprinkle 2 tsp Kosher salt over the dough. Stir one minute to incorporate. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place to rise.
3:00 – Spray a rubber spatula with cooking spray. Fold the dough over itself by gently lifting up one edge and folding it to the middle of the bowl. Rotate the bowl a bit and repeat the process. Fold the dough eight times, then cover with plastic wrap, place a warm place, and let it rise.
3:30 – Repeat the folding procedure.
4:00 – Repeat the folding procedure.
4:30 – Gently slide the dough onto a floured surface. Gently cut the dough in half and shape each half into a ball by tucking the edges under. Coat two 8″ round baking pans with olive oil (2 Tbsp in each pan). Place one ball of dough in each pan and turn it over to coat both sides with olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for 5 minutes.
4:35 – Gently stretch the dough to fit the pans. It will be pretty tough to do, and you may not get it just perfectly round, but who cares? Using a fork, poke the bread full of holes, like 20 times. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise. Put a cookie or baking sheet in the oven and set it to 450 degrees.
5:15 – I like to sprinkle the tops with a little grated parmesan cheese before baking, but that’s optional. Bake the bread for 25-28 minutes until it’s golden brown. Remove from the oven and let it cool for five minutes, then remove to a wire rack. Brush the tops with olive oil, and I like to add a dash of garlic powder to the oil, but again that’s optional. Sprinkle with a tiny bit of salt to finish, flaked sea salt preferred. If you add all the optional stuff, you won’t need to dip it in olive oil or smear with butter. It will be delicious as-is.
Have fun experimenting. Here’s some I made that I topped before baking with sauteed onions, garlic, sliced olives, and Parmesan cheese. Yum!
