I love soup. In fact I ate this twice over the weekend. But I think, no matter how good, most soup needs a little something on the side. And, in my opinion, that something should be bread. I made this simple focaccia to accompany my recent batch of tomato soup, and it really was the perfect partner. It is also easy to split lengthwise for a sandwich and toasted fingers of this bread make excellent dippers at parties.
Slow but Simple Focaccia
adapted from Cook’s Illustrated Pizza Bianco recipe
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 2/3 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Combine the flour, water, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix under your dough hook on low until combined, about a minute or two. Let the dough rest for 20 minutes.
Add the yeast and sugar to the bowl and knead under the dough hook on high speed until the dough is shiny and it pulls away from the bowl’s sides. You will probably have to hold your mixer stead to keep it from shimmying off your counter–you really want to put the spurs to it. It takes about 6 minutes, maybe more if you don’t have a good mixer or you are afraid to crank it to high.
Coat a large mixing bowl with 1 tablespoon of oil, and transfer the dough into this bowl with a spatula. (It’s too sticky to handle; it’s supposed to be.) Pour another 1 tablespoon of oil over the top and flip the dough ball so it’s well oiled all around. Cover it tightly with plastic wrap and let it rise for 2 1/2 hours. An hour before baking, adjust your oven’s rack to the lowest rung and preheat the over to 500 degrees.
When the dough is done rising, coat a baking sheet with 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Press the dough into the baking sheet, using your finger tips to work it out to as much as a square shape and as close to the corners as you can. Let it rest in the pan for 10 minutes, and then dock it with the tines of a fork about 40 times.
Bake until it is golden brown across the top and darker brown around the edges, about 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer it to a cutting board with a big spatula and cut it into pieces with a pizza wheel. It keeps well overnight in a sealed container, but you should rewarm before serving. Here’s the bottom. Pretty delicious looking, huh?
