Rosemary and Tomato Focaccia

My rosemary bush has finally picked up some growing speed and I couldn’t help but pull a few sprigs off for this. Plus it gives me an excuse to eat more of the oven dried tomatoes I made!

Adapted from The Big Book of Baking

Ingredients

500gr strong bread flour

2tsp dried yeast

1tsp salt

4tbsp of olive oil (plus extra for brushing)

2tbsp freshly chopped rosemary (or 1tbsp of dried)

2tbsp of chopped sun dried (or oven dried) tomatoes

300ml lukewarm water

Method

1, Sift the flour and slat together in a large bow

2, Stir in the yeast and rosemary and sundried tomatoes

3, Make a well in the centre and pour in the olive oil and mix quickly.

4, Keep mixing and add in the water and form into a doughy ball

5, Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 2-3 minutes

6, Place in a bowl that has been lightly brushed with more olive oil and cover with clingfilm. Put the bowl in a warm place for two hours

7, After two hours the dough should doubled in size. Turn back onto a lightly floured surface, knock it back with your fist and give it another knead, but only for a minute

8, Put the dough onto a well oiled baking tray and press down to form a large circle of flat dough

9, Cover again with clingfilm (oil the clingfilm this time though) and return to the warm place for an hour

10, After an hour, peel off the clingfilm, and dip your fingers in some olive oil and make dimples all over the loaf.

11, Bake in a preheated oven at 240o/c (gas mark 9) for 20 minutes until golden brown.

12, Sprinkle with coarse sea salt and garnish with more rosemary and tomatoes before serving.