Sicilian Sea Salt Focaccia

Italian · Year-round · 90 min · Serves 8 · By Daniel Owens

The dough is 80 percent hydration and intentionally slack. The 24-hour cold proof does most of the work; you just need to dimple, douse, and trust the oven. The salt goes on twice, once with the dimples and again at the door.

Ingredients

  • 500g bread flour
  • 400g cool water
  • 10g instant yeast
  • 12g fine sea salt
  • 60ml Olio del Monte Castelvetrano olive oil, plus more for the pan
  • 2 tablespoons Salina Sea Aeolian flake salt, for finishing
  • A few sprigs of rosemary

Method

  1. Whisk the flour, yeast, and fine salt in a wide bowl. Pour in the water and mix with one wet hand until just combined. Cover and rest 10 minutes.
  2. Wet your hands. Stretch and fold the dough four times around the bowl. Cover and rest 30 minutes. Repeat twice more.
  3. Oil a 9x13 inch pan with olive oil. Tip the dough in, flip to coat, cover, and refrigerate 18 to 24 hours.
  4. Two hours before baking, pull the dough out. Let it come to room temperature and finish proofing.
  5. Heat the oven to 240°C. Dimple the dough with oiled fingers all the way to the bottom of the pan. Pour another 2 tablespoons of olive oil over and into every dimple. Scatter rosemary and half the flake salt.
  6. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes until deeply golden. Brush with one more glug of olive oil and the remaining flake salt as it comes out.