Fresh Focaccia with Goat Cheese and Red Onion

Credit to Yotam Ottolenghi

Starter:

• 1½ tsp active dried yeast (or 15g fresh yeast)

• 420ml bottled still spring water, lukewarm

• 2 ½ cups white bread flour

Bread:

• 2 ½ cups white bread flour

• 1 Tbsp light brown sugar

• 2 Tbsp olive oil, plus extra for brushing

• 1 Tbsp coarse sea salt

Red onion and goat cheese topping:

• 1 small red onion, thinly sliced

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 100g goat’s cheese, crumbled

• coarse sea salt

For the starter, put the yeast and water in a large mixing bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until the yeast dissolves. Add the flour and stir until you get a porridgelike consistency. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and leave somewhere warm for about 2 hours, until doubled in size.

In a mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, mix the starter with the flour, sugar, salt and olive oil. Once dough comes together, it will likely be too dense to continue in the mixer (it was for mine). At this point recommend transferring to a floured surface to continue kneading for 6-8 minutes.

Brush a large bowl with oil, place the dough in it, and brush the surface of the dough with more oil. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and leave in a warm place for 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in size.

Turn out the dough onto a floured work surface and stretch and flatten it into a rectangle. Try not to work it too much. Take one of the short edges of the rectangle and fold it into the center. Take the other end and fold it over the first one to form 3 layers of dough.

Take a heavy baking sheet, roughly 12 x 6”, and brush it with oil. Lift the dough onto the plan, placing it so the seam is at the bottom, and flatten it by pressing hard with your fingers. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise for another hour. During this time you will need to work the dough 3 or 4 times. Press it down with your fingertips and stretch it out gently to the edges of the baking sheet each time. By the end of this process it should cover the whole pan in a layer about ¾” thick and have lots of bumps and little hills in it.

Preheat the oven to 425. Mix the onion with the olive oil and scatter it on top of the bread. Dot with pieces of goat cheese and sprinkle with a little salt.

Place the focaccia in the oven and bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 375 and continue for 15-20 minutes. Check underneath the bread to make sure it is baked through. When it is out of the oven and still hot, brush with plenty of olive oil. Serve warm.