Focaccia is a flat oven-baked Italian bread similar in style and texture to pizza dough. This bread is great for dipping in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, or served simply as an appetizer. It’s extremely easy to make and for being bread the recipe is relatively quick.

In this recipe I top the bread with halved cherry tomatoes, but it can be topped with anything you would top a pizza with.

Add your yeast to the water and mix. Add a pinch of salt and a splash of olive oil to your flour and then add your yeast and water mixture. If you have a stand-mixer mix everything on low with the paddle attachment until it comes together. If you don’t have a stand mixer use a spoon.

Once the mixture comes together either knead by hand or use the bread-hook on your stand mixer. If you’re doing it by hand it will take about 10 minutes. If you’re using the stand-mixer then it will probably take around 7 minutes. You want the dough to be like a pizza dough, so it may still be a little sticky once you’re done kneading – that’s perfectly okay, just add a little flour to the outside to make it easier to handle.

Cover and let the dough proof for 45 minutes.

Add some corn meal to the bottom of your baking tray. I like a large rectangular baking tray for this bread, something that you might use for a lasagna. Add the dough to the baking tray and press your fingers into the dough to make a lot of little holes. Add a splash of olive oil to the top of the dough. At this point you can press your tomato halves (or whatever topping you want to use) into the holes, add your dried herbs to the top and let proof for another 45 minutes. For this proof I recommend covering the tray with a warm, damp cloth.

Preheat your oven to 400F. Once the second proof is done add a bit of kosher salt to the top. Be wary, depending on the toppings you decide to put on the focaccia, you might not need to add the salt. Use your discretion.

Be gentle when placing the bread into the oven. Bake the bread for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. As soon as it comes out of the oven add another splash of olive oil. Be sure to let the bread rest for at least 15 minutes before digging in.

As always thank you for reading and if you try out this recipe let me know how it goes in the comments below. Please also let me know any recipes, cuisines or techniques you want to know more about and I’ll try my best to either share something I’ve already done or find something new.