Oak Smoked Tomato Pesto Focaccia Recipe

Ingredients:

650g Cotswold Pizza Flour
520g Water (80% hydration)
20g Salt (3%)
10g Honey
20g Olive Oil for the dough, plus extra to oil the pan & drizzle over the dough pre bake (+10g)
8g Fresh Yeast

Focaccia is a brilliant bread for hot days. Super light and airy inside, with air bubbles baked in, it's less dense than other breads and delicious too. Huge thanks to Rich Payne, our Pizza Ambassador, for sharing this great Oak Smoked Tomato Pesto Focaccia recipe!

Intro from Rich:

"All this recent hot weather is making me crave a good summer salad, but I will always need a tasty bit of bread on the side to satisfy my appetite.

"I think this Smoked Tomato Pesto Focaccia might just fit the bill. Baked for 20 mins, then removed from the oven and smeared with copious amounts of your favourite pesto on to top, (in this case I used my all time fave: iowtomatoes' smoked tomato pesto)

"Once covered in pesto (I use a whole jar!) , I put it back into the oven for another ten minutes to make it all crispy and caramelised on top, then serve with a summer salad, or make into sandwiches….whatever you fancy!

"This focaccia was made using Cotswold Pizza Flour. It’s amazing flour and can handle 80% hydration for this focaccia recipe. (When I use this flour for pizza dough I normally keep it to 62%- 65% hydration.)"

Makes: 1 x 1.2kg Focaccia dough ball
Pan size: Baked in a 12” Lloyd Pan – 2.5” deep dish pan
Prep time: 18 hours based on the method below
Bake time: 35 mins
Baker: Rich Payne / Dough & Behold
IG: @dough_and_behold
Flours used: Cotswold Pizza Flour

Focaccia Dough Making Method:

This recipe is specific to the following timings and temperatures.

4 hours at room temp (RT) 20°C, 12 hours bulk in fridge 3ºC, then 2 hours at RT the next day. (Start mixing at 5pm the day before, to bake at 11am the following day - 18hrs in total).

Add 100% of your water to a large mixing bowl.
Crumble all your Fresh yeast into the bowl and with a small whisk, gently mix until dissolved.
Add your 20g of olive oil and 10g of honey and whisk together.
Add all your flour to the bowl along with the salt and mix together until everything is incorporated and there are no dry bits. The dough will be very wet and soggy, this is fine!
Cover your bowl with a lid or tea towel and let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, wet your stretching hand and grab one corner of the dough, give it a little shake and pull it up towards you, then fold it over the top of the dough.
Turn the bowl 90º, grab the next corner of the dough, stretch and repeat, until you have turned the bowl a full 360º, effectively making 4 stretch and folds.
Cover the bowl and let it rest again for another 15 minutes and repeat this process.
Repeat this process every 15 minutes for the next hour and a half. With each set of stretch and folds you will notice how much stronger and smoother your dough becomes from the original shaggy mess!
Remove your dough from the bowl and place into an oiled container with a lid. Leave this out at room temp for one more hour and then place it into your fridge and leave it overnight.

The Next Day:

At 9am the next day (or two hours before you wish to bake) remove your dough from the fridge, get your baking pan ready. I like to pour a big glug of olive oil into the pan and then rub it all around the pan making sure its fully covered in oil, then I add another generous glug of olive oil to the pan and roughly spread it across the base of my pan with my fingers.
I then gently tip my dough into the pan, turn it over so that the smooth topside is facing upwards, then fold it over itself a few time so you end up with a rough ball shape. Let this dough resto for a moment, and then with your fingers, dimple the dough and push it outwards to it roughly spreads to fill the whole pan. Don’t worry if it doesn’t fit perfectly just yet. Cover the pan with a tea towel or proofing lid (I use a lovely clay one from Mason Cash) and leave the dough to rest for 45 mins to an hour.
An hour or so later, remove the lid, you’ll see your dough has relaxed and now covers the whole pan. Oil your hands and dimple the dough gently again. You’ll see lovely big air bubbles being to rise as you squish the dough. Once you’ve done this, cover with your lid and leave for another 30 minutes.
Turn your oven on and preheat it to 220ºC.
After 30 mins, remove the lid from your dough and give it one last gentle dimple, then drizzle even more olive oil over the top. Trust me, it feels like a lot, but it all helps give your focaccia a lovely golden crisp colour after the bake. I sprinkle a little sea salt on top too at this point.
Gently load your pan into the oven and place on the lowest shelf for 25 mins @220ºc. (I often give the pan a 180º turn during this time to get a nice even bake.
After 25 minutes remove your golden focaccia from the oven and place on a heat proof work surface.
Get your jar of Smoked Isle of Wight Tomato Pesto (Or any pesto you prefer) and with a spatula, gently smooth it all over the top of the focaccia, being careful not to pop any of those lovely bubbles! I use a whole jar or pesto for this bake.
Once the pesto has been added, return the focaccia to the oven and turn the heat up to 250ºc for 10 more minutes.
After 10 minutes remove your focaccia from the oven. The pesto will be nicely baked onto the top with a few charred, caramelized bits that are ooooooohhhh so tasty! Remove your focaccia from the pan and place on a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Super tasty focaccia that you are really going to love. Find out more about Isle of Wight Tomatoes here.

Enjoy!

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Oak Smoked Tomato Pesto Focaccia Recipe