Focaccia Bread

I have been using this recipe for years and no longer have any idea where I acquired it from. It has definitely been a keeper though (even after trying other more 'complicated' focaccia recipes) because not only is it delicious, but it is just so unbelievably easy to prepare. There is absolutely no kneading involved...yay no messy floury bench to clean up...and the amounts of ingredients are a breeze to remember. One tip: if you use anchovies as a topping, like I have in the example above, then before baking you may like to drizzle it with the leftover oil in the anchovy jar/tin (instead of the olive oil) and skip adding any extra sea salt. The anchovy oil gives it an extra awesome flavour and helps impart a more golden crust.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup tepid water
• 1 teaspoon dry active yeast
• 1 teaspoon ground sea salt
• 2 cups of flour
• extra virgin olive oil
• toppings: sea salt, rosemary, olives, anchovies, onion rings

Method:

Dissolve the yeast in the tepid water.

Add the yeasty water to a large bowl along with a cup of the flour and the salt. Stir for 2 minutes.

Add the other cup of flour and stir for 3 - 4 minutes. Don't overwork the dough, you want it to be sticky.

Set the dough aside in a warm spot for a few hours. Alternately you can also refrigerate the dough until the next day, just remove from the fridge a couple of hours before you intend to bake it.

Pour the dough onto a tray and add the toppings of your choice and drizzle with some olive oil. I like to pat out the dough by prodding it with my finger tips, I also let the dough rise a wee bit longer after adding the toppings, approx half an hour, to help them adhere better.

Bake at 230 Celsius for 15-20 min. If you like the top more golden, turn the grill on for the last few minutes.