Focaccia from Bari– the Traditional Recipe

Crispy on the outside, soft in the inside and full of ripe tomatoes focaccia from Bari is one of my most wanted delicacy from Puglia. Living in Copenhagen makes it hard to find a slice of this baked bread around the city. So I challenged my self to prepare an excellent version of it, and finally I’ve reached it :-).

Like the Baresi, (people from Bari) do, eat a slide of this focaccia any time of the day and on any occasion. To fully enjoy its goodness, cut a slice of focaccia in half and stuff it with some mortadella.

I have to say thanks to the funny, brilliant and nice Maria to telling me the essential tips for making these delicious focaccia.

RECIPE:

Focaccia from Bari

SERVINGS: 6-8		Rising Time: 2 h
Preparation Time: 15 min		Baking Time: 30 min
TOTAL TIME: 2h 45 min

INGREDIENTS for 2 focaccia (22-24 cm diameter each one)

DOUGH:

300 g wheat flour, all-purpose flour
200 g semolina, durum mel, durum flour
12 g fresh active yeast
100 gr boiled, mashed and cooled potatoes
50 ml extra virgin olive oil
300 – 350 g warm water
15-20 g salt
a pinch of sugar

TOPPING:

ca 50 cherry tomatoes
EVO Oil
ca 20 fleshy olives
oregano

INSTRUCTIONS

In a large bowl pour the flours and make a hole in the center; add mashed potatoes, salt and oil in it. Add yeast and sugar in a glass with warm water. Mix with a spoon until the yeast melts, and pour it in the bowl.
Using your hands, mix everything together until very well blended and it gets a bit sticky (take a look in the below picture). if the dough is too hard, add a dash of warm water.
To speed up the process you can use a stand – mixer. Fit the dough hook and knead until you get a smooth, sticky dough.

Place it in a greased bowl, large enough to hold a doubled in size dough. Cover with a clingfilm and let rise for about 8 hour, or overnight, in the fridge (or for 2 hours in a warm place). The dough is ready when duplicated in volume and it is sticky, uniform and airy.

**Raised dough consistency: sticky and airy**

Pre – heat the oven to 230-250 ⁰C temperature.

Oil two round metal baking dishes (about 22 cm in diameter each one), pour the dough in, using your fingers to spread it.

Cut tomatoes in half and push the halves into the dough. Add fleshy olives, sprinkle with oregano and a bit of salt. Drizzle with extra EVO oil.
Bake focaccia for around 30 minutes.. The surface and edges has to be crispy.