Sourdough Focaccia with Cherry Tomatoes & Rosemary

Sourdough Focaccia with whole wheat flour, cherry tomatoes, fresh rosemary and garlic. Easy, make ahead and perfect golden crusted bread to dip into soups for a quick and easy weeknight dinner.

Almost 3 years ago, I made my own sourdough starter, Ms.Bubbles from scratch which I consider as an achievement in itself as I have kept it alive and thriving even after all these time.

I have baked focaccia using this starter several times and this particular schedule works for me.

Here’s the schedule - Saturday morning I take out the starter from the fridge and do a discard and feed. Repeat it once in the evening and on Sunday morning as well.

On Sunday evening, autolyse the flour and use the well fermented starter to make the dough, rest it for 1 hour and do stretch and fold twice in the next 90 minutes.

Later I prepare the dough for bulk fermenting and place it in the fridge. I either take it out on Monday or Tuesday evening to prepare it for baking focaccia.

Focaccia shaped into rolls in an 8 inch Cast iron Pan.

Focaccia after adding the toppings and prior to going into the oven.

This Sourdough Focaccia is chewy and slightly tangy from the sourdough, tastes amazing when dunked in soups.

I usually used to flatten the dough in a 9 x 13 inch pan, shape it into a slab & bake it but after a while, loved making them as rolls as I wanted a well risen, thick bread perfect to dip in soup.

To get an even Golden Crust:

10 mins prior towards the end of the baking time, spray water all over the surface evenly with the help of a spray bottle.

Keep continuing to bake. The focaccia or any bread will not only have a beautiful golden brown crust on top but the crust will also be soft and spongy.

To kickstart your SD journey, try this

Sourdough Starter

Sourdough Naan

Sourdough Oatmeal Raisin Muffins (eggless)

Sourdough Focaccia Recipe details below:

Sourdough Focaccia

Radhika

Sourdough Focaccia with whole wheat flour, cherry tomatoes, fresh rosemary and garlic. Easy, make ahead and perfect golden crusted bread to dip into soups for a quick and easy weeknight dinner.

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Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 30 mins

Resting & Bulk Fermentation: 1 d

Course Main

Cuisine Continental

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

• All purpose flour - 350 gms
• Whole wheat flour - 150 gms
• Sourdough starter or Levain - 100 gms
• Water - 350 gms
• Salt - 12 gms

For the Topping:

• Cherry tomatoes - 15 nos
• Fresh Rosemary - 2 tbsp or few sprigs
• Garlic - 2 cloves
• Dried Oregano - 1 tsp
• Sea salt - 1 tsp
• Olive oil - 3 tbsp

Instructions

 

Autolyse:

• In a wide bowl, mix together all purpose flour, whole wheat flour and water.
• Mix together till the dough comes together and there are no dry flour.
• Close with lid and let it autolyse for 1 to 2 hours.

Prepare the dough:

• Add sourdough starter, salt & work both into the dough by fisting the fingers and squeezing into the dough.
• Cover with lid & let it rest.
• After 30 mins do a stretch and fold on four sides of the dough. Cover & rest.
• After 1 hour repeat the stretch and fold again.

Prepare for bulk fermentation:

• Line a bowl with a thick, damp cloth & sprinkle a mix of rice flour & all purpose flour to prevent the dough from sticking to the cloth.
• Drop the dough into it and fold all the edges of the cloth over the dough to fully cover it.
• Place a lid on top of the bowl and place it in the fridge.
• Let the dough bulk ferment overnight in the fridge (minimum time is at least 8 hours).
• Next day, take the dough out of the fridge and let it rest at room temperature for 1 hour.

Prepare the Toppings:

• Halve the cherry tomatoes. Chop rosemary finely if desired. Mince the garlic finely.
• In a small bowl, add 2 tbsp olive oil. To this add minced garlic, rosemary, cherry tomatoes, oregano and sea salt.
• Mix well to coat and let it rest for 1 hour. You can prepare this as soon as you take out the dough from the fridge.

To make Sourdough Focaccia:

• Weigh, cut and shape the dough to your desired size and arrange in a pan.
• Instead of patting into a flat bread, I decided to make them into rolls that weighed equally.
• So, I used my 8 inch cast iron pan. Grease the pan with remaining 1 tbsp olive oil.
• Arrange the rolls into the pan.
• Dimple the dough with your finger and place a cherry tomato half into 1 hole all over the dough.
• Brush the oil mixture all over the surface.
• Cover & rest for 30 mins.

To bake Focaccia:

• Preheat the oven at 230 deg C.
• Place the pan into the oven after 30 mins and bake for 30-40 mins till the focaccia is golden brown on top.
• Sourdough Focaccia tastes best when eaten warm. To store for later, roll it into a paper bag and refrigerate it.
• Microwave the rolls to freshen & soften it up before eating.