recipes

Focaccia with Sage and Sundried Tomatoes

There is nothing quite like the aroma of freshly baked bread. This recipe can be adjusted to suit personal tastes such as replacing the sundried tomatoes with whole cherry tomatoes, adding red onions and chopped rosemary, for example.

Makes 1 large loaf

Ingredients

• 1 sachet dried yeast
• 450ml luke warm water (more if required)
• 1 tbsp Roma Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 700g Roma Pizza and Pasta “00” flour
• 6 Roma Sundried tomato halves in oil, roughly chopped
• 4 sage leaves, finely chopped, to taste

Method

1. Preheat oven to 230°C / Gas Mark 8.
2. Mix the yeast and sugar in the luke warm water and allow to activate. When the yeast froths, it is ready to use.
3. Meantime, sieve the flour into a mixing bowl. Add the salt, olive oil and yeast mixture.
4. Mix to a loose dough, adding more flour or water as required. Knead until the dough is very pliable (approximately 5 minutes using the dough hook of a food mixer or 7-10 minutes by hand). Leave the dough to rise in a well-oiled bowl covered with cling film until the dough has trebled in size and is springy to the touch. (It will rise best in a warm location e.g. hot press, near a cooker or oven).
5. When it has risen, knock it back by punching the air out with your fist then tip the dough out onto a floured surface. Knead it again by hand for 2–3 minutes.
6. Spread out the dough to 1cm thickness in a very lightly oiled baking tray and make indentations with your fingertips. Brush the surface generously with olive oil.
7. Sprinkle the chopped sage sun dried tomato and coarse sea salt on top. Allow to rise again. If the sundried tomatoes “pop” out, press them down.
8. Bake for 5 minutes and then reduce the temperature to 200°C / Gas Mark 6 and bake for a further 10 minutes.