Focaccia

Focaccia is fast, and is a great complement to soups or dishes with a sauce. This recipe is essentially the same I use for pizza dough. You can put herbs and spices right in the dough to flavor pizza or focaccia doughs. Think olive, garlic, rosemary; think Mediterranean.

Wheat Bran, Garlic and Oregano Focaccia
4 cups bread flour
2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp breadmaker granulated active dry yeast
2 Tbsp. wheat bran
1 tsp dried oregano (or other spice)
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1½ cup very warm water
1 Tbsp olive oil

In a mixer fitted with a dough hook and set on medium, mix together the first seven ingredients. Add the water and then the olive oil. Allow the dough to form a ball that has taken up all the flour. At that point, knead on medium-slow speed for 5 minutes. Place 1-tablespoon olive oil in a large bowl. Form dough into a ball and turn into the bowl. Roll dough ball around to assure all surfaces are coated and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let sit about 1-2 hours in the kitchen. I don’t find that a ‘warm, dry’ spot is necessarily needed, depending on the season. I have never had a problem simply placing the bowl on the counter top and walking away – and we live in New England! But if it is exceptionally cold, just put your bowl in a warmed oven (turned off of course!). After dough has doubled to tripled in volume, turn it out to a greased jelly roll pan or a pizza pan. Spread dough out with your fingers to about ¼ to ½ inch thick. Let rise to about ¾ to an inch thick, another 30 minutes or so. Preheat oven to 425F.

Then punch small holes in the dough with all fingers (as if you were playing the piano) and brush olive oil liberally all over the surface (this gives the foccaccia a nice brown crust). Sprinkle coarse salt, fresh ground pepper and whatever dried herbs you want (rosemary for example) over the surface. Bake for about 10-15 minutes, until golden brown.