Dr. Michelle Jorgensen

This Sourdough Ligurian Focaccia is amazing! It was part of a Sunday family dinner last week with some traditional Greek/Mediterranean foods! Check out my blog “Normal is Boring” to read more about the meal and to see the other recipes!

I first heard of Ligurian Focaccia from a  great book called Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. I adapted this from the original recipe on www.saltfatacidheat.com.

As you know, I love making things into sourdough recipes, so I figured out how to make this recipe work with sourdough! That means our taste buds are happy and our stomachs feel great!

I have made this recipe pretty much every week for the last month or two. My family always begs me to make it, and it only lasts a couple of hours before we finish the whole baking sheet.

One of my favorite parts of the sourdough Ligurian Focaccia is the little dimples. Right before baking it, you make dimples all over the top and pour a salt brine to fill these holes. Then, after baking you fill them again with oil.

When you take a bite it’s a little explosion of bread, salt, and oil that tastes great with just about anything!

 

This bread takes some preparation, but get it started the night before and it will be ready to eat for dinner the next day! 

Enjoy some delicious sourdough Ligurian focaccia and check out this post to see what else we had with it!

Enjoy!

Dr. Michelle Jorgensen

Living Well with Dr. Michelle

Sourdough Ligurian Focaccia

Recipe by Dr. Michelle Jorgensen

Course: Bread       /         Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

• Dough

  • 50-100 grams active starter 1/4-1/2 cup

  • 10 grams Kosher Salt about 2.5 tsp

  • 430-440 grams water, room temperature just under 2 cups

  • 512 grams Bread Flour about 4 cups

  • 4-5 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil plus more for drizzling

  • Flaky Sea Salt such as Maldon

  
  

• Brine

  • 1/3 Cup Lukewarm Water

  • 1 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt

  
  

Instructions

1. Place the starter, salt, and water in a large bowl. Stir with a spatula to combine — it doesn’t have to be uniformly mixed. Add the flour. Mix again until the flour is completely incorporated. Add more flour if the dough is sticky. Scrape the sides of the bowl clean and cover with plastic wrap. Leave out at room temperature to ferment for 12 to 14 hours until at least doubled in volume.

2. Spread 2 to 3 tablespoons oil evenly onto a 18-by-13 inch (46-by-33 cm) rimmed baking sheet. When the dough is ready, use a spatula or your hand to release it from the sides of the bowl and fold it onto itself gently, then pour out onto pan. Pour an additional 2 tablespoons of olive oil over dough and gently spread across. Gently stretch the dough to the edge of the sheet by placing your hands underneath and pulling outward.  The dough will shrink a bit, so repeat stretching once or twice over the course of 30 minutes to ensure dough remains stretched. 

3. Dimple the dough by pressing the pads of your first three fingers in at an angle. Make the brine by stirring together salt and water until salt is dissolved. Pour the brine over the dough to fill dimples.

4. Proof focaccia for 45 minutes until the dough is light and bubbly.

5. Thirty minutes into this final proof, adjust rack to center position and preheat oven to 450°F (235°C). If you have a baking stone, place it on rack. Otherwise, invert another sturdy baking sheet and place on rack. Allow to preheat with the oven until very hot, before proceeding with baking.

6. Sprinkle focaccia with flaky salt. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes directly on top of stone or inverted pan until bottom crust is crisp and golden brown when checked with a metal spatula. To finish browning top crust, place focaccia on upper rack and bake for 5 to 7 minutes more. 

7. Remove from oven and brush or douse with 2 to 3 tablespoons oil over the whole surface (don’t worry if the olive pools in pockets, it will absorb as it sits). Let cool for 5 minutes, then release focaccia from pan with metal spatula and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

8. Serve warm or at room temperature.

   
   

Notes

Recipe adapted from: saltfatacidheat.com and alexandracooks.com

To store, wrap in parchment and then keep in an airtight bag or container to preserve texture. Gently toast or reheat any leftover focaccia before serving. Alternatively, wrap tightly to freeze, then defrost and reheat before serving.