Fred’s Famous Vegan Focaccia

Focaccia

• 2.5 Cups water

• 7g (1 packet) dry active yeast

• 780g AP flour

• 1.5 Tbs Salt

• 3/4 Cup EVOO, divided

Toppings

• 1 Head of garlic, cloves sliced thin

• 1 carton of cherry tomatoes

• Salt (coarse or flaky is best, but you can use whatever)

• Pepper

• Red pepper flakes (optional)

• Chopped Rosemary and thyme

  This recipe is easiest with a stand mixer. It can be done by hand, but get ready for your arms to be tired.

• Preheat oven to 450° F

• Toss your prepared toppings (sans the salt and pepper), in 1/4 olive oil and set aside

• Add 2.5 cups of warm water and yeast packet to a large mixing bowl and stir gently. Wait about 5 minutes for yeast to activate (it'll look a bit foamy on the surface).

• Add flour and mix until a shaggy dough forms, then add your salt. Mix until your dough comes together in a smooth mass. If you are using a stand mixer it should be wrapping around the dough hook. Cover bowl with a warm damp towel and rest for 10 minutes.

• Begin mixing again (mixer at medium high), until the dough becomes very elastic. This means that if you try to pull the dough apart, it should stretch a ways before breaking. It should still be quite sticky, don't add more flour. This takes longer than you would think. About 10-15 minutes of mixing on medium-high.

• Into another mixing bowl (or just clean out the one you've been using), pour a 1/4 cup of olive oil and swirl to coat. Add your dough to the bowl and turn so that the entire surface is covered in oil. Cover again with a warm damp cloth and allow to rest at room temp until dough is doubled in size, about 1.5 to 2 hours.

• Prepare a 13x18 sheet pan by coating with another 1/4 cup of olive oil

• With oiled hands, loosen the risen dough from the sides of the bowl. Slide your hands down around either side of the dough and lift it up out of the bowl, letting the weight of the dough pull itself downward. This stretching motion gives more structure to the dough so it rises higher.

• Return the dough to the bowl, letting it fold onto itself, then rotate the bowl 90 degrees and repeat the same stretching and folding process. Rotate and stretch the dough two more times, finally placing it on the oiled baking Sheet instead of back in the bowl after the final stretch. Stretch the dough in all directions to fill out the pan until it starts to spring back, then cover the pan with an oiled sheet of plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 15 minutes.

• Uncover the dough and use your fingers to stretch it all the way to the sides and into the corners so it fills the sheet completely. Cover the dough again with the same sheet of plastic wrap. At this point, the dough can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours. It should rise slowly in the refrigerator until nearly doubled in height, but if it hasn't by the time you're ready to bake, let it sit at room temperature until it does. If you're going to bake the focaccia straightaway, let it sit at room temperature until the dough is nearly doubled in height (it should reach near the top of the sheet pan), another 40 to 55 minutes.

• Uncover the risen dough. With oiled hands and fingers spread wide, press your fingertips down into the dough through to the bottom of the pan, making lots of dimples across the entire surface.

• Add your toppings/olive oil mixture evenly over the top of your focaccia, top with salt and pepper, and bake the focaccia on the lower rack until the corners of the dough are pulling away from the pan, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer the focaccia to the top rack and continue to bake until the top is very well browned (some of the bubbles might even start to char), about 5 minutes longer.

  Recipe created by Chloe Smith-Guitard