Since watching Paul Hollywood learn how to make the wonder of no-knead bread when he was in New
York for his series City Bakes I have certainly got back into my bread making groove. Our delicious, fresh, well aerated and easy to make no-knead bread with white and wholemeal flour has regularly been on our table, or rather in the bread crock, for the past few weeks!
Focaccia is a bread which I have enjoyed in the past with it's delicious flavour arising from the olive
oil and other elements. It's a bread which is great for tearing and sharing with family and friends served with soup or as a dip with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It is undoubtedly tastiest when eaten warm but any cold left overs can be reinvigorated by splitting it before grilling and serving as a bruschetta with a medley of chopped tomatoes, for instance.
This no-knead focaccia, classically flavoured with garlic and rosemary, was a big success. The fresh rosemary was amazing in the bread bringing a wonderful balanced flavour alongside the mild garlic and wonderful olive oil. Three garlic cloves had been allowed to infuse in a quantity of olive oil for about 24 hours before I started making the dough, though if you prefer, shop bought flavoured oils can easily be found in most supermarkets.
No-knead bread has allowed me to rekindle my love of homemade bread, allowing those wonderful aromas to waft through our home once again. It continues to amaze me that wonderful, well aerated bread can be made without any kneading. Just a quick 30 second mix and the dough is ready for the prove. You can even use a wooden spoon for that mixing if you're keen to keep your hands and nails sparkly clean, ready to answer the door when those unexpected visitors arrive. Despite all of the positives to no-knead bread I must confess that,depending upon your outlook, there may be a negative. The prove can take numerous hours, sometimes more than 24 hours depending upon the ambient temperature of the room. But, as they say good things come to those who wait. That patience rewards you with a really tasty well aerated bread.
So, seriously, if you've yet to try no-knead bread I really must encourage you to give it a whirl. It really is easy, fuss free and
produces great results too. Perhaps try this no-knead focaccia, flavoured with rosemary and garlic. It is easy to make and great for tearing and sharing with family and friends.
So let's get to it and bake!
NO-KNEAD ROSEMARY & GARLIC FOCACCIA.
Ingredients
FOR THE GARLIC INFUSED OLIVE OIL
- 50 ml Olive Oil
- 3 cloves of Garlic
FOR THE ROSEMARY & GARLIC FOCACCIA
- 250 g Strong White Bread Flour
- 5 g Salt
- ½ teaspoon Easy Bake Yeast
- 50 ml Garlic infused Olive Oil as above
- 180 ml cool Water
- 1 sprig of fresh Rosemary
Instructions
- Combine the garlic and olive oil. Measure 50ml of olive oil into a jug and add the garlic cloves. Stir and cover with clingfilm. Set aside for as long as you’re able to allow the garlic flavour to infuse into the olive oil. I left ours for 24 hours. Periodically rock the jug containing the flavoured oil to and fro to allow the flavours to merge. Alternatively use a ready infused oil from the supermarket.
- Make the focaccia dough. Place the flour, salt and yeast in a good size bowl keeping the salt away from the yeast at this stage. Combine with your hand or wooden spoon.
- Make a well in the flour. Add 1.5 tablespoons of the garlic infused oil and pour in most of the water. With your hand or wooden spoon mix the flour into the liquid aiming to combine all of the flour into a soft dough. Add the remaining water to pick up any surplus flour. The dough will be quite soft and sticky at this stage.
- Prove. Cover with clingfilm or a shower cap (used purely for baking). Place the covered bowl somewhere cool (though not in a draft), to allow the dough to prove slowly. It will triple in size. Ours was ready for the next stage after 16 hours. See notes.
- Prepare your baking tray. Lay a strip of greaseproof paper in the base of the baking dish and grease the sides with a little butter or olive oil.
- Shape the dough. Without knocking back the dough, use a spatula to carefully scrape around the side of the bowl and tip the aerated dough into the prepared baking vessel. Use your fingers or the tip of the spatula to encourage the dough to take the shape of the baking dish, though you don’t need to be too precise about it. Dip your finger in the garlic infused olive oil and prod the dough a few times to create indentations. If you prefer to keep your hands clean use the handle of a spoon rather than your finger.
- Prove again. Cover the baking vessel with either a shower cap or clingfilm. Set aside for a further hour.
- Pre-heat the oven. Preheat the oven to maximum.
- Add rosemary and more olive oil to the dough. Just before baking, dip your finger (or spoon handle) into the garlic infused oil and make some more dimples in the dough. Remove the leaves from the rosemary sprig and place the leaves and mini sprigs into the indentations (ensuring that there are no tough woody stems attached). Drizzle any remaining olive oil over the dough.
- Bake. Place the bread in the centre of the oven and immediately reduce the oven temperature to 220 / 200 Fan / Gas mark 8. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes.
- Enjoy!
Jenny - Monkey and Mouse
Loving that dish! The focaccia looks amazing too, I love it but have never tried to make it. Possibly as I find bread a bit daunting, but no knead sounds perfect! Thanks for linking to #HowtoSunday x
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
It's an amazing dish isn't it Jenny, such a lovely colour 🙂 It sounds like no-knead bread would be the perfect compromise for you Jenny resulting in a homemade bread which smells great without the hassle of having to knead it. I hope you enjoy it as much as we have if you give it a go.
Thanks dot your lovely comment,
Angela x
Corina
I have made focaccia bread once before and do love it but I really am intrigued to try this no knead method! The flavours are lovely and perfect for summer too. Thank you so much for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice!
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
I'm still amazed by how well it works Corina; it does take some time for it to prove but it certainly is worth the wait. The rosemary & garlic flavour was just amazing.
Thanks for popping by and of course for hosting,
Angela x
Mandy
Have you got Short and Sweet by Dan Lepard? It's an amazing book and he uses a method of three 10 kneads with a 10 minute rest time between each one. It hasn't failed me yet! Your focaccia looks gorgeous. Thanks for linking up with #CookBlogShare
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Ooh that sounds interesting Mandy, I shall have to have a look into that.
Thanks for your lovely comment,
Angela x
Eb Gargano
Ooh yes please, this looks fabulous!! And I am having serious cookware envy - that le Creuset dish looks so beautiful!! Eb x
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Ooh isn't it just gorgeous Eb 🙂 I've coveted Le Creuset for years and years (infact I was 11 at a friends house when I first became aware of the brand. I had been invited for tea and my friend's mum was using the bright orange pans! They really caught my eye!) It's, obviously, so lovely to bake with.
I'm making another batch of the focaccia today in fact, I'll package you some up and send it down south in return for a portion of that lovely Mexican salad 🙂
Thanks for popping by Eb,
Angela x
Sara HandyHerbs
That looks absolutely delicious and I love that it is no knead! Have pinned and will be giving it a go 🙂 #HowToSunday
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Thank you Sara 🙂 It's amazing how well no-knead actually works, it's so easy but it does mean that you need to be patient during the prove time. I hope you enjoy it as much as we have, I'd love to see a picture of your focaccia,
Thanks for popping by and commenting,
Angela x
Back With A Bump
I'm trying to be good and not eat bread much at the moment but god, this looks good!!!! #howtosunday
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Hahaha, I'm sorry 😉
Angela x
Sarah Trivuncic
That looks wonderful! I think garlic is what I've been missing out of my focaccia but I'm definitely putting it in next time. Thanks for joining in with #BAKEoftheWEEK !
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
The garlic flavour was only subtle in the bread because it had been infused in the oil rather than incorporating the cloves into the bread itself. That said we could still pick out the flavour which worked so well with the rosemary. We enjoyed it so much that we're making another today!
Than you for your lovely comment and of course for hosting,
Angela x
Alison
Your focaccia looks gorgeous, great flavours and I love the colour of that dish.
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Thank you Alison 🙂 I completely agree, the colour of the dish is gorgeous.
Thanks for popping by and commenting,
Angela x