Life without bread would be dismal. Even those who are allergic to gluten find ways to have bread. And ask anydieter and you will find that they crave bread. Bread is just so delicious, so satisfying. Adding garlic, herbs, and olive oil to bread sends it into another realm entirely. When the heat hits those aromatics your entire house fills with the intoxicating smells of yeast and garlic. I think if you put that smell in a bottle and then wore a little into a bar, men would flock to you.
Chanel No.5 has nothing on fresh baked bread.
Anyway, this particular loaf is a Foccacia. Foccacia is an Italian loaf that is very versatile. It is not only great as a bread to go with dinner but it also makes a delicious sandwich bread. The rosemary and garlic give it an earthy taste that I love, but you could easily substitute any fresh herbs that you want and end up with a unique bread. This recipe makes a loaf the size of a half sheet pan or standard cookie sheet. You could easily split the dough and make one loaf and freeze the other for another day. Feel free to play around with your flavors on this one. You won’t be disappointed.
Rosemary Garlic Foccacia
makes a 12×18 loaf
1 package active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water ( no hotter than 110 degrees)
3 T olive oil
5 c. bread flour
2 t. salt
1 T fresh or 1 t. dry rosemary
For topping:
3 T olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 T fresh or 1 t. dry rosemary
In a small bowl mix together yeast, water, and oil together and let stand for 5 minutes.
In a large bowl, sift the flour and salt together. Make a well in the center. Pour the yeast mixture in the well and mix into a soft sticky dough.
Turn out the dough onto a floured work surface and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.
Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, oil the top of the dough, cover, and let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.
Punch all the air out of the dough, and turn out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead in the rosemary.
Using a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough until it is large enough to fit into a well oiled sheet pan. Place dough into the pan and cover and let rise for 30 minutes. Uncover, poke dimples into the dough using your fingers. Cover and let rise for another 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drizzle the loaf with olive oil and top with rosemary and minced garlic.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until bread is golden. Immediately remove from pan and let cool on a wire rack.
Serve warm or slice horizontally to use as sandwich bread.
Foccacia Sandwich
1/2 loaf Foccacia, sliced horizontally
Hard Salami
Sliced turkey breast
Sliced Provolone or Swiss
chopped Kalamata olives
sliced tomato
chopped Romaine
thinly sliced red onion
1 T dijon mustard
2 T mayo
salt and pepper
Instructions
- In a small bowl mix together yeast, water, and oil together and let stand for 5 minutes.
- In a large bowl, sift the flour and salt together. Make a well in the center. Pour the yeast mixture in the well and mix into a soft sticky dough.
- Turn out the dough onto a floured work surface and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.
- Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, oil the top of the dough, cover, and let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.
- Punch all the air out of the dough, and turn out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead in the rosemary.
- Using a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough until it is large enough to fit into a well oiled sheet pan. Place dough into the pan and cover and let rise for 30 minutes. Uncover, poke dimples into the dough using your fingers. Cover and let rise for another 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drizzle the loaf with olive oil and top with rosemary and minced garlic.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until bread is golden. Immediately remove from pan and let cool on a wire rack.
- Serve warm or slice horizontally to use as sandwich bread.
Nutrition
You are right… there is nothing better than the smell of freshly baked bread! I bet this not only smelled awesome, but tasted great, too!