Focaccia (Black Pepper)
Submitted by chad
Black pepper focaccia with freshly cracked pepper in the dough, dimpled crust glossed with olive oil, flaky sea salt, and fresh thyme. Steam-baked for a bakery-style crackle and a pillowy middle.
YIELD
1 batchPREP
20 minCOOK
30 minREADY
3 hrsFreshly cracked black pepper goes right into the dough itself, not just on top, so every tear of this focaccia carries a warm, peppery kick that stands up to cheese, cured meats, or a dip of herbed oil. The ice cube trick from the directions is the secret to professional crust: cubes tossed onto a hot pan create a steam burst in the first minutes of baking, letting the dough spring high before the crust sets crackly and crisp.
Those dimples pressed deep with your fingertips aren’t decoration, they trap pools of olive oil that fry the surface into golden crispy craters while the interior stays open and airy. A full two-stage rise (double in bulk, then another 30 minutes after shaping) builds the irregular holes that define proper focaccia crumb.
Pro Tips
- Warm water should feel like a comfortable bath, around 105°F to 110°F (40°C to 43°C), hotter kills the yeast.
- Use good extra-virgin olive oil for brushing, cheap oil tastes bitter when heated.
- Dimple hard enough to almost reach the pan, shallow dimples disappear during bake.
- Tap the bottom, hollow sound means done.
Variations
- Scatter thinly sliced red onion or cherry tomatoes in the dimples before the final rise.
- Swap thyme for fresh rosemary sprigs pressed into the dough.
- Add ¼ cup grated Parmesan over the top in the last five minutes of baking.
Ingredients
Directions
Sprinkle yeast over 1 cup warm water and let dissolve about 10 minutes.
Mix dry ingredients using five cups of flour to start and then add yeast water and left over water and oil.
On lightly floured surface, knead dough until smooth and elastic adding more flour if required.
Place in lightly greased bowl turning once to coat top with oil.
Let raise double in bulk and punch down.
Transfer to lightly floured and knead gently for 1 minute.
Lightly grease a 14 inch pizza pan and roll dough out to fit make ½ inch indentation with fingertips and let raise 30 minutes.
Adjust lower rack to bottom of over and leave broil rack in over.
Preheat to 425F and place 1 cup of ice cubes in a pan on top rack.
Brush bread with 1 tablespoon oil and sprinkle on sea salt.
Cook 30 min.
Until brown and taps hollow. brush with 1 tablespoon oil and add thyme.
Serve with herb infused oil.
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