Description
This recipe for fougasse, the French version of the Italian focaccia bread, is topped with mixed herbs. The flat bread can be slashed to form shapes (a leaf, tree, or wheat stalk), or the slits can be cut to form a lattice, making the bread easy to pull apart.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ tablespoon dried basil
- ½ tablespoon ground savory
- ½ tablespoon dried thyme
- ½ tablespoon dried rosemary
- 2 tablespoons sea salt
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons cornmeal
Instructions
- Pour water into a large bowl. Sprinkle yeast into water; let stand undisturbed until dissolved.
- Mix together basil
- savory
- thyme
- and rosemary in a small bowl.
- Stir 1 cup flour
- 1 tablespoon herb mixture
- sea salt
- and 2 tablespoons oil into yeast mixture until well blended. Mix in remaining flour
- 1 cup at a time
- until a thick and somewhat sticky dough forms.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic. Form into a ball and place into an oiled bowl. Flip dough to coat the surface. Cover the bowl with a clean dish towel; let dough rise until doubled
- about 1 hour.
- Punch dough down and divide in half. Shape each piece into an irregular oval
- about 1 1/2-inches thick. Sprinkle cornmeal over 2 baking sheets; transfer dough to the prepared baking sheets.
- Brush each loaf with remaining olive oil; sprinkle remaining herbs on top. Make several slashes in bread
- cutting through dough with a knife. Cover loaves with clean dish towels. Let rise again until dough begins to rise
- about 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (220 degrees C).
- Place the baking sheet with loaves in the preheated oven. Quickly splash a small amount of water onto the oven floor to create steam
- then close the oven door. Bake loaves until golden
- about 20 minutes.
Servings: 20