00 & Semolina Rosemary Olive Focaccia

Quoting Niki Singet's The Flavor Thesaurus:

"OLIVE & ROSEMARY. A hearty combination to put you in mind of Italy. Scattered with olive and rosemary, Focaccia becomes an edible postcard of the Maremma, the irrigated flatlands that span southern Tuscany and northern Lazio. A bite of olive gives the salty tang of the sea breezes that sweep in from the west, rosemary a hint of the maquis, so thick in places that there are local vineyard owners who claim you can taste it in the wine."

Yes, I had to look up "maquis." It's a dense growth of shrubs in areas around the Mediterranean.  Imagine the smell out West when the wind blows through Wyoming sagebrush mixing with the olives.  Or waves crashing against the pine treed Maine coast.  It smelled a bit like that at my house this afternoon.

We cut some breadsticks off it to have next to chicken Caesar salad.  And it was pronounced a good supper.

The formula for the focaccia was

400 g (67%) Italian 00 flour

200 g (33%) Semolina flour

Handful of fresh rosemary needles, finely chopped

Handful of oil-cured olives, finely chopped

9 g (1.5%) Salt

9 g (1.5%) Instant yeast

30 g (5%) Olive oil

480g (80%) Water

Put flour, semolina, rosemary, olives and salt into a large bowl.  Whisk to mix thoroughly to coat the olives with a layer of flour.  Whisk in the yeast.  Add the water to the oil and pour into the flour mixture.  Mix with a spoon or your hand until all the ingredients are incorporated into a loose dough the consistency of a very thick batter.

Cover and let sit 45 minutes.  Do one stretch and fold and return to the bowl.  Repeat for twice more and end with a fourth 45 minute rest.

On a cookie sheet or sheet pan, stretch the dough into a rectangle about 12" x 18".  Moisten the top of the dough with a thin layer of olive oil.  Poke holes about 1/2" apart all over the dough with your fingers.

Preheat oven to 425F and allow the dough to proof about 20 minutes.  Place in the middle of the oven and bake 20 minutes.  Remove the now stiff but not quite done bread from the pan and return to the oven shelf without the pan to continue cooking for 10 additional minutes.  This will make a loaf that is crunchy both top and bottom.