Fabulous Olives & Thyme Focaccia

This year’s drama shows no signs of abating, we had a bereavement, the credit crunch quite literally has also hit our home and now find myself temporarily ‘a lady of leisure’ and ‘house wife’.

Consequently I find myself with more time on my hands that I haven’t had in a very long time and hence found myself more and more in the kitchen seeking solace and joy in creating culinary delights, giving cooking lessons to my friends and their little ones as well as feeding them and my husband up.

In my pursuit of joy and employment I decided to try making a focaccia and our Auntie Noreena all the way from South Africa demanded to have the recipe, so I thought it would be only fair to share it with you all as well as Aunt Noreena.  A focaccia , is kind of a cross between a bread and a pizza, and absolutely delicious. You could either eat it with antipasti, such as olives, parma ham, or a dip of olive oil with a drop or two of balsamic vinegar, or as a perfect accompaniment to ‘Nanny Salvu’s soup’, (or any other soup for that matter) and the ‘Bolognese Sauce’. 

And this is how you do it:

Ingredients:

For the Dough                                                                 For the Topping

350grms Plain Flour                                                       2tbsp olives - sliced

Pinch Salt                                                                       A few sprigs fresh thyme

7grms Dry Yeast                                                            pinch coarse salt

210ml Lukewarm Water                                                2tbsp olive oil                          

1tbsp Olive Oil

Method:

•  Lightly oil a 10 inch shallow round/rectangle pizza pan/pie dish. 
• Place the flour, salt, yeast and olive oil in a *bowl. Using the handle side of a wooden spoon mix gently and make a whole in the middle, gradually adding the water to form a soft dough. 
• Knead for at least 5 minutes until smooth and elastic in texture.
• Cover the bowl with a lightly oiled cling film and leave to rise in a *warm place until the dough has doubled in size. 
• Knead the dough for about a minute and transfer to a lightly floured surface and shape into a ball. Roll out into a 10 inch circle/rectangle and place in the prepared tin.  
• Cover with a lightly oiled cling film and leave to rise in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size.
• Using your fingers make deep (as in the pictures). Cover and leave to rise for about 10 minutes.
• While it is rising, pre-heat the oven to 200⁰C/Gas 6.
• Uncover and sprinkle over the olives and the thyme, pushing gently into the dough.   
• Sprinkle the salt and the olive oil and bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until golden brown.
•  Cool slightly on a wire rack and enjoy warm! 

* TIPS - If possible it is best to use a metal bowl, as this keeps the heat and will help the dough to rise.   Leave to rise in a sunny window, or else while preparing the dough pre-heat the oven on 100/120⁰C for about 20 minutes. Then switch off, and wait till it cools off a bit, then leave the dough to rise in the warm oven.