A quick and easy foccacia.
Ingredients
- 450 g plain flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 level tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 350ml – 400ml buttermilk or sour milk
- 2 red onions
- 20 olives (pitted)
- 3 sprigs of rosemary (cut into 2cm lengths)
- about 60-75ml extra virgin olive oil
- sea salt
Method
- Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F/Gas 7). Brush the inside of the tin generously with olive oil.
- Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Pour most of the buttermilk in at once and, using one hand with your fingers outstretched like a claw, mix in the flour from the sides of bowl, adding more buttermilk if necessary.
- The dough should be softish, but not too wet and sticky.
- When it all comes together, turn it out onto a floured board and roll it out so that it will fit into the swiss roll tin.
- Make dimples all over with your fingertips, on the top of the dough.
- Next peel the onions and cut first into 6 wedges lengthways, then half crossways. Place these chunks on the raw dough, six across and eight down, next to the half of the onion wedges place a pitted olive and a small sprig of rosemary.
- Then drizzle over the olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.
- Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the bread is nice and golden on the top and bottom.
- If the bread is a good golden colour and you don’t want it to darken any more during cooking, reduce the oven temperature to 200’C/400’F/Gas mark 6 and continue to bake for the specified time.
- When the focaccia is cooked but still hot, drizzle just a little more olive oil over the top and allow to cool slightly before serving.
