Sourdough Focaccia with Garlic Confit
Incredibly crusty and crispy outside with an airy and soft inside that has just the right amount of chewiness! This easy sourdough focaccia is so simple and fun to make and wows any crowd!
Let's get right into it!
I’ve written and re-written this intro so many times. Sometimes describing my week, other times times talking in [too much] depth about my coffee/espresso obsession, then even diving into my new love for watching anime! But this recipe is too important to be frolicking around with other topics! Let’s do this!
Sourdough Focaccia
Now, I'm no expert about sourdough. But I did make my own starter over a year ago and have made many many many manyyyy focaccias from it. IMO, as long as you have a healthy sourdough starter, there is nothing easier and more satisfying to make than FOCACCIA!
The Dough
When I say easy, I really mean easy. Focaccia dough comes together in just a couple minutes. You dissolve some active starter in water with salt and olive oil. Then, you add the flour, mix it alll up, let it rest a bit, and you start a series of stretch and folds to help the dough develop gluten!
There’s nothing taxing about the process, no labor intensive kneading needed. Stretching and folding the dough is like play-do for adults. And watching your dough go from a sticky lumpy mess to a smooth and incredibly stretchy dough with so little work is like watching magic happen.
After about no more than 10 minutes total of hands-on work, you just leave the dough to do its thing. I like to let it almost double in size at room temperature before placing in the the fridge overnight (sometimes longer).
The Bake
When I plan on baking the luscious dough, I scrape the chilled dough straight from the fridge into a non-stick, oiled 9x13in pan and let it sit around for an hour or two to double in size. During this time, I’ll also make sure my oven is preheated to a verrrry toasty 450 degrees F and that my oven rack is on the lower third of the oven. This helps me make sure the bottom of the focaccia always comes out nice and crispy and golden!
Once doubled in size, the funnest part begins! I spread more olive oil on top and dimple away! Poke until your fingers reach allll the way to the pan. Beautiful magical bubbles appear and I know I’m in for a treat! In this case, I top it with gorgeous golden garlic confit and a healthy sprinkle of flaky sea salt before it goes straight into the hot oven! I bake my focaccias for about 25-30 minutes, until deeply golden brown!
The bubbly crackly ASMR upon removing a fully baked focaccia from the oven is like music to my ears! I like to let it cool for about 10 minutes before carefully removing it from the pan and placing onto a cooling rack. I find that if I let it completely cool inside of the baking pan, the heat creates condensation on the bottom of the focaccia and causes the bottom to become a bit soggy. This is not a huge deal and I can toast up slices of focaccia and they become nice and crispy again! But just in case you’re wondering a possible reason why your focaccia bottom isn’t crispy, this might be why!
Ingredients
for sourdough focaccia
100g active starter
400g water, room temperature
10g kosher salt
10g extra virgin olive oil
500g bread flour
for garlic confit
4-6 heads garlic, peeled OR about 2 cups pre-pealed garlic cloves
1 1/2 c - 2 c olive oil
2 springs fresh rosemary
1 tsp kosher salt
Instructions
sourdough focaccia
In a large bowl, measure out 100g active starter. Add water, salt, and olive oil. Using a rubber spatula, mix to dissolve starter. Add the bread flour and mix to combine well until no dry lumps of flour. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl well. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, with a wet hand, perform your first set of ‘stretch and folds’ to the dough. To do this, have a bowl or cup of clean water near you. Dip your fingers into the water, then lift up the dough from one edge (if the dough were a clock, imagine that we are lifting up ‘12 o’clock’), stretch it up gently as far as it will go without tearing and fold it down into the middle of the dough. Turn the bowl a quarter of the way clockwise (or counter-clockwise), and repeat the stretch and fold at 12 o’clock again. repeat this going around 2 more times. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes. Repeat the whole stretch and fold process 2 or 3 more times depending on how much time you have.
Lift up the dough and flip it so that the smooth side is on top. Drizzle some olive oil on it, cover and let dough almost double in size at room temperature. Then, place in fridge overnight or up to 2 days. Don’t leave it for any longer than that or it will be over proofed. Although it’ll still taste great.
make the garlic confit
Place peeled garlic cloves, olive oil, rosemary, and kosher salt into a small saucepan, making sure the olive oil is completely covering all the garlic cloves.
Place saucepan on the stovetop over the LOWEST heat setting possible. Do not cover saucepan. Oil will come to a slight simmer, don’t let it boil.
Keep simmering for about 25-40 minutes, until the garlic is soft and very easily pierced by a skewer. Remove from heat and let cool completely. Pour into a clean jar, cover tightly, and store in fridge until ready to use.
bake the focaccia
About 2 hours before you want to bake the focaccia, remove the dough from fridge, generously oil a 9x13in NON STICK baking pan (if not non stick, use parchment paper and oil that). Gently scrape the dough into the baking pan. With oiled hands, gently flip the dough so that that smooth side is on top. DO NOT deflate the dough. Cover and let double in size for about 2 hours. If your house is hot, this may not take as long.
Meanwhile, pre heat oven to 450 degrees F.
Once doubled in size, the dough should have relaxed to fill up most if not all of the pan. Drizzle olive oil on top of the dough. Optionally, use the oil from the garlic confit. Rub a little oil on your fingers and dimple the dough! Make sure your fingers go all the way through the dough and hit the pan.
Spoon garlic confit cloves into dimples of the dough. If adding fresh rosemary, make sure to rub the sprigs with oil to prevent burning. Sprinkle desired amount of flaky sea salt on top, and place immediately into the hot oven! Bake for 25-30 minutes until deep golden brown.
Remove from oven, let cool for about 10 minutes, then carefully remove from pan and let cool on a cooling rack. I like to do this around 10 minutes to preserve the crispy bottom. If it cools for too long in the baking pan, the bottom may become a bit soft or soggy.
Enjoy warm or when fully cooled! Keep completely cooled focaccia tightly covered and toast for a few minutes to enjoy!
This looks delicious! For the active starter... is this the same thing as yeast?