Italian Focaccia with Onion and Rosemary 意大利佛卡夏

Please bear with me because I will have few posts talking about my recent Italy trip and also Italy foods, hehehe..Since my trip is free and easy, so I need to make a lot of homework before I go, which hotel to book, what to buy, what to eat, which place to visit & etc. While I searching for the foods, I found this video of making Italian Focaccia (Gary Rodhes across Italy). Soon I returned from the trip, immediately I tried out this recipe, I would say this is the best Focaccia I have ever had, crispy and light crust and soft crumb, simply delicious! In fact, I am planning to use this dough recipe to make pizza!

Two special ingredients in this Focaccia, mashed potato to make soft crumb, and Maltose powder to make crispy crust. Since I could not find Maltose powder (first time know this), so I replaced with the usual Maltose syrup (麦芽糖) that available in the market..



Also another interesting step in this recipe, mix olive oil with water..

and then flood the whole Focaccia !! According to the chef, this step is to make crispy crust and soft in those little wells that made using fingertips..

You can enjoy dipping it with olive oil and Balsamic vinegar. I think dip it with curry, also good!



I learnt that best Italian Balsamic vinegar is made in Modena Italy.

I was not sure which brand to buy, I simply bought this bottle because I saw Modena on the label and the brand is a bit old 1889, hahaha..



Lets check out the recipe I have modified as per below.

But I will advise you to watch the video first, clear instruction and explanation.

Maybe due to I have modified the original recipe (replaced Maltose powder with Maltose syrup, and fresh yeast with instant yeast), resulted the dough is a bit wet and tacky..you might want to reduce water a bit, and change to bigger tray size if you have because I found my bread was a bit thick, if I have made it thinner, it will be better..
updated on 22 May 2013- I made again and I have made some changes, you can refer to those highlighted in red. This time the dough is easy to handle, less oily and even better !

Italian Focaccia with Onion and Rosemary 意大利佛卡夏

(recipe source: modified from here, video here )
*for a non-stick square pan 9”x9”, for better result use 10”x10”

For the dough

1tsp instant yeast 
1tbsp maltose syrup 麦芽糖
50g milk 
150g lukewarm water (120g) 
325g High protein flour or bread flour (360g)
1/2tsp salt 

100g (60g) mashed potatoes (boil potatoes in water till fork tendered, mashed with fork then sift) 

50g olive oil  (10g)

To finish

50g olive oil, shaken together with 50g water 

Sea salt
1 onion, sliced and soaked in a mixture of water and vinegar (optional) 
1 sprig of rosemary, slightly chopped

 Method

1.     Sprinkle yeast on half portion of lukewarm water till frothy (about 5mins).
2.     Dissolve maltose syrup with the balance half of lukewarm water.
3.     Mix yeast water, maltose water and milk together in a jar.

4.     Sift the flour and salt onto a work surface. . Make a well in the centre and add the mashed potato, olive oil and the yeasty milk mixture.

5.     Work the flour and potato into the liquid, working from the inside of the well outwards. Gradually add the rest of the water to bring the dough together

6.     Knead the dough for 10 minutes or until it is soft and spongy. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for 30-45 minutes or until it rise double.

7.     Once risen, knock back the dough and place on oiled baking pan and flatten it using hand to a thickness of about 1cm. Then use your fingertips to press down all over the dough, creating lots of little wells. Leave to rise again until for another 30 minutes.

8.     Preheat the oven to 190C (fan forced).
9.     After the dough has risen, generously drizzle over the oil and water mixture and sprinkle with sea salt. Scatter onions and chopped rosemary over the focaccia. Bake for 25mins.