I know, I know… when is she going to do some Christmas baking, right?

I’m getting to it, I promise.  I’ve just been having a hard time capturing the festive spirit this year, although I do have a very festive cold!!  In the meantime, if you’re really desperate for Christmas suggestions, you could do worse than make this gorgeous Pork, Apricot and Pistachio Terrine as a starter for your Christmas meal and if you’re a real glutton for punishment, this Pear Charlotte is an utterly amazing dessert.  With just five days to go to Christmas, you’re definitely too late to make a traditional fruit cake, but if you’re a chocolate-lover, a brandy-laced Chocolate Christmas Cake can even be made on Christmas Eve with perfect results.

But for the moment, I’m here to talk about Giorgio Locatelli’s classic focaccia recipe.  When I first saw this in Made In Italy I couldn’t believe my eyes; the recipe was so far away from what I understand to be a classical foccacia recipe.  So, on that basis I just had to try it.

A classic foccacia recipe in my book consists of a very wet dough which is best worked in a stand mixer to combat the sticky-wetness.  It is then slathered with extra-virgin olive oil before being left for a first rise.  Then the still very sticky dough is pressed into a large shallow tin and dimpled, doused in more oil, and scattered with rosemary and plenty of sea salt before going into a hot oven.

This… abomination… called for a very stiff dough, a few short rises, and then drowning the dough in an emulsion of salt, water and extra-virgin olive oil.  I really, really couldn’t see how it could work.

And yet, somehow it did.

I had to add more water to the initial dough as it just wasn’t coming together and there was loads of dry flour left in the bottom of the bowl.  And when I poured over the salamoia, it really did drown the dough and seeped its way underneath instead of resting nicely in the big dimples I’d created.  I fretted that the foccacia would boil rather than bake.  But when all was said and done, and I pulled the tray from the oven, I had foccacia.

It looked, smelt and tasted like foccacia, with an airy and bubbly crumb, which had a nice chew-factor to it.  And it all disappeared within 24 hours, which should tell you how good it was.

So, I guess I owe Giorgio an apology for calling this incredible foccacia an abomination and for being so sceptical.  If you’re still feeling a bit sceptical about this recipe, then do give it a try yourself.  And if you like to have a bread basket out on the table at Christmas, then I’d be willing to bet that it’ll be emptied pretty damn fast if you fill it with squares of this foccacia!

Foccacia classica

Source: Made In Italy by Giorgio Locatelli

Note: To make a sage foccacia, I added one tablespoons of finely chopped sage to the dough when initially prepared.

500g strong white bread flour
15 fresh yeast
225g water (at room temperature)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
10g salt

For the salamoia:
65g water (at room temperature)
65g extra-virgin olive oil
25g salt (I reduced this to 10g which was just a little underseasoned.  I’d recommend 15g as a maximum)

For the topping:
small handful of rosemary sprigs or handful of good pitted olives

To make the salamoia, whisk all the ingredients together until they emulsify.

Preheat oven to 220C (200C fan-oven).  In a bowl mix together all the ingredients (except the topping) until they form a dough.  Rub the surface with some oil and leave to rest for 10 minutes, covered with a damp cloth.

Oil a large baking tray and transfer the dough to it, then rub the surface with a little more oil.  Leave for another 10 minutes.

Using a rolling pin and starting from the centre, roll upwards very lightly, once only, to the top of the dough.  Use a light touch so as not to break the bubbles that have developed in the dough.  Go back to the centre and this time roll down to the bottom of the dough, once only.  Leave for 20 minutes during which time the dough will double in size.

With your fingertips make deep dimples in the dough, taking care not to go all the way through.  Whisk the salamoia, then pour it over the surface and into all of the holes.  Leave for 20 minutes more.

Either pres the rosemary into the dough or push the olives into the holes. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden, then let cool on a wire rack.