My Focaccia

I have always though that italian food is neither elegant nor very elaborated. The succes of this cuisine is based on the simplicity, freshness and efficiency of their dishes (at both economic and time levels: cheap and fast)

As you might have seen I love italian food, but my special favourites are those that form part of the italian fast food. Focaccia is one Ligurian speciality, the region where Genova is. This bread is somehow similar to a deep pan pizza with no cheese or tomato. It normally is oily and spongy, and I love it when they use it as bread for sandwiches. It can also be tuned with other ingredients: i love the onions or the smoked scamorza!
The place where I always find my favourite focaccia is Pomodoro e Radicchio, a pizza place in the corner of Castro Pretorio. It is light, thin and very spongy! yummy!
Trying to reproduce this delicious dish, I have failed lots of times, and to be sincere, I havent reached yet the point I want to, but, as Sir Isaac Newtown did with gravity, I found the recipe of my focaccia by accident.


INGREDIENTS:

• 500 g of flour.
• 25 g of fresh yeast.
• 1 glass of lukewarm water.
• 4 spoonful of olive oil.
• 1 spoonful of honey.
• Cooking salt.
• Fresh rosemary.

PREPARATION:

1. In a big bowl, put the flour and make a hole in the middle. Place the yeast in the hole with the honey (that will activate the power of the yeast) and the water (slightly warm water helps yeast activate). Mix the water with the yeast and the honey and let it rest for a couple of minutes without mixing with the flour.
2. When the mix is foamy, add 2 teaspoons of salt and the olive oil, and stir everything together until you get an homogeneous dough. Work the dough for a few minutes.
3. Let the dough rest for an hour in the bowl covered with a wet towel and somewhere warm. (sunny window or the open door of a warm oven).
4. After the first hour, place the dough in a cooking tray. We want it to be a rectangle of 2 cm thick.
5. Let it rest for 1 hour. After this hour, poke some holes with your clean fingers and let it rest for at least another hour, although better if 2.
6. After the resting time is over, sprinkle some chopped fresh rosemary, the cooking salt, a bit of pepper and some olive oil.
7. Bake it in the oven for 25 minutes at 180ºC.

Bon Profit