Garlic and Onion Focaccia

Focaccia looks impressive but it's quite simple to make. It's also versatile: tomatoes, roasted peppers, olives, rosemary and thyme are all great additions; just make sure you use good extra virgin olive oil. You can eat it on its own, as part of a meal, or do what I do and make it into a big sandwich with lots of mustard!

10-12 squares

Ingredients

Dough

500g strong white bread flour

5g fine salt

7g fast-action dried yeast

400ml water

A little light olive oil, to oil

Topping

150ml extra virgin olive oil

180g onions, sliced

About 1 tbsp dried oregano

Flaky sea salt

Garlic butter

150g unsalted butter

6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

Method

1. To make the dough, put the flour, salt and yeast into a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook and mix on a low speed for 5 minutes, gradually adding 300ml of the water as you do so. Increase the speed to medium and slowly add the remaining 100ml water. Continue to mix for 14 minutes on medium until the dough is smooth and elastic.

   
   

2. Transfer the dough to an oiled large bowl, cover and leave to rise for 1 hour.

   
   

3. Uncover the dough and gently fold it from the edges into the middle, rotating the bowl as you do so. Re-cover the bowl and leave to rise for a further hour.

   
   

4. Repeat the folding process, then cover again and leave the dough to rise for another 2 hours.

   
   

5. Liberally oil the base of a 40 x 30cm shallow baking tin. Gently tip the dough out onto an oiled surface and stretch it out a rectangle, the size of your tin. Lift the dough into the tin and use your fingertips to spread it to the edges. Drizzle with around 50ml of the extra virgin olive oil, cover and leave to prove for an hour.

   
   

6. Heat your oven to 200°C/180°C Fan/Gas 6.

   
   

7. Using your fingers, push the onions into the focaccia, pressing firmly down to the base to create indentations, without disturbing the surrounding risen focaccia too much. Sprinkle liberally with oregano and flaky sea salt and drizzle generously with the rest of the extra virgin olive oil. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.

8. Meanwhile, for the garlic butter, melt the butter in a saucepan, add the chopped garlic and season with a little salt and pepper. When the focaccia comes out of the oven, brush the garlic butter all over the surface and drizzle with more extra virgin olive oil. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

   
   

9. Serve the focaccia cut into squares.