Biga

• 71 g all-purpose flour
• 79 mL water (111.3%)
• ¼ tsp yeast

Dough

• all of the biga
• 354 g all-purpose flour
• 296 mL water (88.2%)
• 1 tsp yeast
• 2 tsp salt

Fillings

• 1 cup olives (any variety, roughly chopped) Maybe I should only use 1 tsp salt if I'm using olives...

Toppings

• 2 × ⅛ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 × ½ tsp kosher salt
• 2 × 1 tbsp fresh rosemary (minced)

Recipe

• Mix the biga ingredients until just combined. Cover tightly (to encourage fermentation) and let rise at room temperature for 8-24h.

• Mix the biga with the remaining flour, water, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer until just combined. Cover and let rest for at least 20 min to autolyse.

• Work the salt into the dough, then knead it in a stand mixer with the dough hook for about 13 min, or until it comes together enough to thwap the sides of the bowl for about a minute. You really have to use a stand mixer for this recipe, because the dough is just too wet to knead by hand.

  If you want any fillings, add them towards the end of the kneading. Make sure to pat them dry as well as you can, or maybe reduce the amount of water in the dough to account for any water present in the fillings.

• Cover and let rise for 2h, doing drop-hook folds every 30m.

• Shape the dough and transfer it a cast iron pan.

  • Pour half the topping oil and salt into each of two cast iron pans.

  • Scrape the dough onto the counter and divide it half. Rub a little bit of olive oil around the counter first to prevent the dough from sticking to it (or your hand).

  • Try to shape each half into a ball. If the dough is too runny to handle, you can do a few stretch-and-folds to firm it up a bit (but it'll still be hard to shape).

  • Roll the balls around the pans to coat them in oil and salt, then let them rest for 20 min.

  If you only have one cast iron pan, put the second half of the dough in the refrigerator. Take it out when the first half goes in the oven, so it has some time to come back to room temperature before it proofs.

• Press the dough out towards the edges of their pans. Poke your fingers all the way through the dough while you're doing this. If the dough starts to resist, let it rest for 20 min then try pressing it out again.

• Proof the dough for about 1h. While that's happening, preheat the oven to 500°F. When the proof is done, sprinkle the rosemary over the dough, put the two pans in the oven, and turn the temperature down to 450°F. Bake for about 25 min.

Notes

References

• http://www.takingonmagazines.com/rosemary-focaccia-from-the-best-of-americas-test-kitchen-2012/

  This is pretty much the recipe I have here, but I added a kneading step because I think really high-hydration doughs like these benefit from all the gluten development they can get.

• http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2015/10/no_knead_vs_traditional_bread_is_a_false_dichotomy_you_should_make_slow.html

  This recipe encouraged me to increase the length of all the rise steps, and to make sure there is a rise step after every handling of the dough.

• http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/focaccia-recipe

  I like that this recipe encourages the use of tons of oil. It's actually the same amount of oil as this recipe (it calls for ½ cup, but it also has twice as much dough), but I think it's good to keep in mind that you need a lot of oil to get that lightly fried texture.

  This recipe also has advice on how to get the classic "craggly" focaccia look. Specifically, it recommends actually poking your fingers all the way through the dough while spreading it out. The holes will fill in during baking and leave nice dimples. If you just make depressions in the dough without poking all the way through, the bread will come out flat.