Recipe: Rosemary and new potato foccacia

I had planned a special Italian date night with D a few weeks back, and I was determined I was going to try to make my own focaccia bread to go with it. I love baking, like really love baking. Our kitchen is quite small, and I don't really do it often. I have a bread maker, and a few years ago I went through a phase of making all our own bread. But then I got a job two hours away and it put paid to that!

I have never, though, made my own bread by hand. So I thought this would be a good chance to give this a go. And what's better than an Italian bread? I don't want to know.

I found the recipe on BBC Good Food and you can access the recipe here. I really liked this recipe, and it makes a large loaf. (Do you call a focaccia a loaf?) Anyway, point is this makes loads for just two people! You can freeze it, I'm sure though. We kept it wrapped up in our bread bin, and D ate it over the next few days, though it's definitely at it's best fresh.

Ingredients:

250g new potatoes (I used a tin of new potatoes, already peeled for this)
7g sachet fast-action dried yeast
8 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing
500g strong white bread flour, plus extra for kneading and dusting
small pack rosemary

Method:

1. Pour 175ml boiling water and 100ml cold water into a large bowl. Sprinkle over the yeast, 1 tsp salt and 2 tbsp olive oil. Mix well, then stir in the flour, adding a splash more water if the mixture feels too dry.

2. Turn out the dough onto a clean work surface and knead for 15 mins until smooth and elastic (dust the surface with a little flour if the dough is sticky), then shape into a ball. Grease the inside of a large bowl with olive oil, then add the dough to the bowl and turn a few times to coat in the oil. Cover with cling film and leave in a warm place for 1 hr or until doubled in size.

Ready to prove

Rising dough

3. Grease a large roasting tin (about 26cm x 35cm) with olive oil and dust with a little flour. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Carefully stretch out the dough to fit the tin, pressing it into the corners. Cut the cooked potatoes into wedges and tuck them into the dough at regular intervals, along with sprigs of rosemary, and scatter a few sprigs over the top. Cover the tin with cling film and leave to prove for another 45 mins. Remove the cling film, pour over 3 tbsp olive oil and sprinkle over a little salt. Bake in the oven for 30-35 mins or until the bread is golden and the potatoes are browning lightly.

Spreading on tray ready for second prove

Adding ingredients and more oil

4. When the bread is cooked, remove it from the oven and quickly drizzle over another 3 tbsp olive oil while it’s still hot. Leave to cool for 10 mins, then turn out onto a board, slice and serve.

Finished product :)

I served this bread as a side to this which was the perfect accompaniment. It was oozy and saucy and perfectly luxe. Also, serve with a nice bottle of red, and a tiramisu to finish.