i’ve been making a lot of focaccia recently. it seems like the entire world is stress baking along with me as a result of coronavirus.
my covid-19 experience thus far has been rocky: i’ve been away from my home and home kitchen this past month as part of a residency program in a different part of brooklyn. i definitely wasn’t expecting to face a once-in-a-lifetime, once-in-a-century global pandemic in not-my-home with not-my-family in the now-global-epicenter, but hey, here we are, and this too, shall pass.
as a result of the unfamiliarity, i’ve been revisiting old recipes that bring me comfort, like this sourdough discard focaccia. i’ve made this specific flavor combination four times this past week and plan to make it many more times this week to pull me through what i can only describe as shared global grief and trauma. i’ve loaded this focaccia with so many of my favorite things: heavy with ricotta, so much so that it tastes quite like a white pizza, generously topped with caramelized onions.
it feels almost luxurious to be able to eat this during a time of crisis, especially when i consider the additional luxury i have to be able to work from home. i keep telling myself that it’s ok to enjoy and appreciate and be grateful for the tiny beautiful things.
so bake this and share it with your loved ones. feed this to those you live with. tell them they mean something to you. don’t hold back on the cheese. don’t hold back on the drizzle. don’t hold anything back at all.
wishing all of you and your communities lots of love, connection, safety, health — and a lot, a lot of bread.
notes
the dough used in this recipe is the exact same formula as my sourdough discard focaccia, but i’ve simplified it a bit. my original recipe uses einkorn flour, but i’ve found i can really use any non-white flour in its stead (though einkorn flour still produces my favorite texture).
i’ve also just defaulted the hydration to 80% and a 12 hour bulk time, given that i’ve found higher hydration and a long bulk time yield a jigglier dough and better structured crumb.
i often double this recipe and make two batches at once. increase the bake time slightly if you’re going to be baking multiple pans or a larger focaccia. the shape of the pan won’t matter too much, but the size does. i usually like to use a pan that is just slightly bigger than my stretched out focaccia.
pandemic focaccia
formula
- 180 g king arthur all purpose flour
- 60 g king arthur bread flour
- 60 g any low protein flour, like whole wheat
- 240 g water, 90-95°F
- 7 g sea salt
- 60 g discard starter
- 230 g ricotta
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 4 g coarse salt
- 9 g extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 large onion, caramelized (more if desired)
- 1 tbsp red pepper chili flakes
- 1 tbsp raw honey
method
- follow instructions for sourdough discard focaccia: autolysing, mixing, and folding twice in the evening.
- this dough needs an overnight bulk rise of about 12 hours.
- julienne the onions. add 1-2 tbsp of butter to a skillet on low to medium heat. add onions and cook low and slow for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally until onions turn transluscent and then turn a caramel color.
- preheat oven to 500°F. this takes a while for my oven so i usually do it 30-45 minutes before i plan to bake. at this point the dough should be jiggly and bubbly!
- generously oil the bottom of a 9×13 metal pan. turn the dough out carefully onto the greased pan.
- using your fingers or knuckles, gently stretch the dough to the shape of the pan, until about 1/2 to 1 inch thick, dimpling the dough in the process.
- let rest about 5-10 minutes
- take tablespoon-fulls of ricotta and plop evenly on top of focaccia into the dimples. i like to densely spoon ricotta to get a pizza-like focaccia. add as much or as little as you'd like.
- sprinkle coarse salt and rosemary to taste, on top of dimpled dough. then, drizzle olive oil.
- bake at 500°F until the top becomes golden brown, usually for 15 – 20 minutes depending on your oven. if you make a double recipe baking time can increase to about 25 minutes.
- remove baked focaccia onto a cooling rack. using tongs (or another utensil), gently distribute your caramelized onions on top. sprinkle with red pepper flakes, to taste.
- let cool for at least 5 minutes, and drizzle honey on top before slicing and serving.
This recipe is fabulous! To find a recipe using discard is always the best. I had to add a bit more all purpose to mine as it was pretty humid today here and the dough was too wet, also added some honey to the dough. I find it makes a crispier focaccia. I added it in along with the stretch and folds after autolyse.
I found your site while looking for things to do with my discard. This recipe was great even though cooked it longer than you recommended. I used a AP and spelt flour and lots of olive oil. I can’t wait to make another batch and try some different toppings.