Rosemary Focaccia

This soft, chewy Focaccia bread is flavored with rosemary and sea salt. It is perfect for serving as an appetizer or along side a pasta dinner!

Focaccia is a flat, Italian bread that is very similar in texture and concept to a thick and chewy pizza crust. Traditionally, it is seasoned with olive oil, salt, and herbs, but it can become the base for a number of other toppings as well.

Back to the Romans

In Ancient Rome, panis focacius was the term for a flat, hearth-baked bread. As the tradition of these flat breads spread throughout Italy, the recipes were adapted by each home cook. If you travel to Italy, you will find many variations on focaccia. As you travel from region to region, you will find different toppings used, different thicknesses, and even different textures in the focaccias, reflecting the regional specialties.

A Basic Dough

The dough that we use to make our focaccia is a basic lean bread dough. That means that the dough doesn’t have any (or has very little) fat or sugar in it. Some focaccia recipes will have you add oil to your dough, but, for us, the essential quality of focaccia is the flavor and texture that comes from coating the shaped dough in olive oil before baking.

The dough is soft and easy to work with, which is perfect because after rising, it is pressed, by hand, into its flat shape in the pan. To get that classic focaccia look, you will want to dimple the top of the dough with your fingers after you shape it.

Spreading the shaped dough with olive oil, not only adds to the flavor and texture of the crust, it also helps to lock moisture into the dough. That moisture then turns to steam in the oven, creating the beautiful interior texture of the bread.

How Will You Serve It?

We love serving our focaccia as a side dish with pasta, as an appetizer, or even as an easy snack. It can also make a great pizza base if you have a serious love for thick crust pizza. We have also been known to slice through the middle of that chewy bread center and make a sandwich out of the two halves.

If you love focaccia, give the French version a try too! Fougasse is a French flat-bread that isn’t quite as thick as focaccia, but still makes just as tasty of an appetizer bread!

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5 from 1 vote

Rosemary Focaccia

This soft, chewy Focaccia bread is flavored with rosemary and sea salt. It is perfect for serving as an appetizer or along side a pasta dinner!

Yield: 1 (7x9 inch) flatbread 

Prep Time2 hrs

Cook Time15 mins

Total Time2 hrs 15 mins

Course: Bread

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: flatbread, rosemary bread

Servings: 4 - 6 people

Calories: 150kcal

Author: Sarah | Curious Cuisiniere

Ingredients

• ¾ c warm water, 80F
• 1 tsp active dry yeast
• 2 c unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 ½ tsp dry rosemary or 1 Tbsp fresh, chopped (plus additional for topping)
• ¾ tsp sea salt (plus additional for topping)
• 2-3 tsp olive oil

Instructions

• Place the warm water in a large bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and let it stand a few minutes for the yeast soften.
• Mix 1 cup of flour into the yeast and water mixture. Add the rosemary and salt, and mix well.
• Slowly mix in the remaining 1 cup of flour, only using as much as you need for the dough to come together. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5-8 minutes, until a soft and smooth dough forms. (Add more flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking to your hands.)
• Shape the dough into a ball and place it into a large bowl that has been greased with olive oil. Turn the dough to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl loosely with a damp tea towel and let it rise in a warm, draft free place for 1 hour.
• When the dough has risen, knead it gently a couple of times, then stretch it into a rectangle.
• Grease a 10 x 10 inch section of your baking sheet with roughly 1 tsp of olive oil. Place the stretched dough on the greased section, turning to coat it with oil. Using your fingers, press the dough to roughly 7 x 9 inches. Once pressed to size, press your fingers into the top of the dough to cover it with dimples. (It's ok if the dough springs back. These are just to give it the classic, dimpled focaccia look.) Cover the shaped dough again and let it rise for 30 minutes.
• While your dough is rising, preheat your oven to 450F.
• Once the dough has risen, drizzle it with additional olive oil and sprinkle it lightly with sea salt and chopped rosemary.
• Place the bread into the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 400F. Bake the bread for 15-17 minutes, until golden.
• Remove the bread from the oven, wrap it in a clean tea towel to keep it soft, and let it cool on a wire rack for at least 5 minutes before slicing and eating.

Nutrition

Serving: 6servings | Calories: 150kcal

Looking for more Italian dishes? We’ve pulled together a collection from some of our favorite bloggers!

Appetizers:

• Cacio e Uova Meatless Recipe from She Loves Biscotti
• Gnocchi alla Romana from Tramplingrose
• Italian Rice Balls from My World Simplified

Mains:

• Classic Vodka Sauce from Cupcakes & Kale Chips
• Eggplant Parmesan from Rants From My Crazy Kitchen
• Florentine Pizza from A Mind Full Mom
• Parma Rosa Baked Ziti from Palatable Pastime
• Pasta Con Sarde a Mare – Pasta with Sardines at Sea from Caroline’s Cooking
• Pasta e Fagioli from Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Pesce all’Aqua Pazza from Monica’s Table
• Pumpkin Agnolotti from Jane’s Adventures in Dinner
• Shrimp Fra Diavolo from Grumpy’s Honeybunch
• Zuppa Toscana from Momma’s Meals

Dessert:

• Fiordilatte Gelato from Manu’s Menu
• Limoncello Cookies from Cosmopolitan Cornbread
• Panna Cotta with Fresh Berries from The Chef Next Door
• Salame al Cioccolato (Chocolate Salami) from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
• Zabaglione Gelato from Magnolia Days

Beverages:

• Bicerin (Italian Coffee) from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
• Liquore all’Alloro from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Sgroppino (Frothy Italian Sorbetto Cocktail) from The Wimpy Vegetarian

Sarah

Sarah is one of Curious Cuisiniere’s founding duo. Her love for cultural cuisines was instilled early by her French Canadian Grandmother. Her experience in the kitchen and in recipe development comes from years working in professional kitchens. She has traveled extensively and enjoys bringing the flavors of her travels back to create easy-to-make recipes.

www.curiouscuisiniere.com/about/