Potato Focaccia
One of my favourite pastimes is to make bread. I find it an incredibly relaxing pastime, and a great way to de-stress from a busy week whilst of course, being always enjoyable to eat.
As with all focaccia recipes (and most bread recipes) they take time to make but I can assure you for this one the end result is well worth the effort.
Delicious eaten fresh straight out the oven either on its own or with soup, pasta or a salad, and as it freezes well, is exceptionally good if warmed again in the oven prior to eating.
Enjoy.
Ingredients
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Focaccia dough
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½ tsp dried yeast- fast action
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350ml water- cool
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2 tbsp olive oil
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450g organic white flour- strong flour (bread flour)
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Topping
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3 medium waxy potatoes- peeled and thinly sliced
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2 tbsp olive oil
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2 tsp cumin seeds- freshly ground
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2 tsp cardaman seeds- freshly ground
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Pinch sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper
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Fresh basil leaves
Instructions
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Stage 1 : prepare focaccia dough
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01 In a large bowl sieve the flour. Dissolve yeast in 350ml water. Add olive oil and mix well. Pour liquid mixture into the sieved flour and mix well to form a soft dough. Do this either by hand or using your electric Kenwood dough hook.
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02 Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise.
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Stage 2: prepare topping
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03 Pestle and mortar the cumin and cardamon seeds to a rough powder. Add sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper. Add olive oil. Mix well and keep to one side.
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Stage 3: roll and fold
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04 Turn out the risen dough into an oiled baking tray 30cm x 20cm. Using gentle hands stretch dough to fit the rectangle tin but then fold in half, and repeat the process twice. Leave to rest 30 minutes. Repeat process another 2 times again with a 30 minute rest.
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05 Make sure the oven is hot. Gently stretch the dough once more to cover the tin. If it shrinks back this is OK. REST 10 MINUTES.
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Stage 4: complete
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06 Spread the thinly sliced waxy potato slices in an overlapping layer all over the surface of the dough.
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07 Using a pastry brush, smother top of potatoes with the spicy olive oil mixture, and a fresh grind of black pepper. Toss baby basil leaves over the top.
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08 Bake in the hot oven until golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin and cut into squares once cool.
Notes
Best to use an organic, strong white flour suitable for bread making for this recipe, and as this type of bread requires a wetter dough than the norm, I recommend to lightly oil your fingertips when at the 'rolling and folding' stage as this way it will be easier and less sticky to the touch. It is also possible to make this bread in stages i.e prepare the dough overnight and then the next day roll and fold. Freezes well (that's if it lasts that long!), and of course, can be reheated in the oven.
