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Fluffy Focaccia Recipe With Mozzarella And Rosemary

This fluffy focaccia recipe (Italian flatbread) is easy to make and delicious – with an amazing texture and a beautiful crispy crust.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Rise Time1 hour 5 minutes
Total Time1 hour 45 minutes
Course: Appetizer, Breakfast, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine: European, Italian
Keyword: flatbread, fluffy focaccia, focaccia flatbread, herb focaccia, mozzarella focaccia, rosemary focaccia recipe, yeast dough
Servings: 10 sevings
Author: Ester | esterkocht.com

Equipment

  • baking sheet and parchment paper
  • Kitchen machine or hand mixer with dough hooks

Ingredients

For the dough

  • 500 g (4 cup/ 1.1 lbs) plain flour/ all purpose flour plus extra for dusting
  • 6  teaspoons  dry yeast
  • 100 ml (1/3 cup + 1 ½ tbs)  milk
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 250  ml (about 1 cup/ 8.5 fl.oz) lukewarm water
  • 100 g (approx. 4 oz)  fresh Mozzarella cheese drained
  • 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary chopped
  • 4  garlic cloves
  • 6  tablespoons extra virgin olive oil plus extra for greasing

For the topping

  • about 1  teaspoon  coarse sea salt
  • 3  teaspoons  extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons  fresh rosemary chopped

Instructions

  • Put the flour into a large bowl and make a well in the middle. Then pour lukewarm into the center of the flour. Add sugar and yeast to the well. Stir well and let the mixture stand for about 5 minutes.
  • In the meantime mince garlic and fresh rosemary. Then cut mozzarella cheese in small slices.
  • Next add garlic, rosemary, mozzarella cheese, salt, milk and olive oil to the bowl and knead the dough very well. I normally knead my yeast doughs like this:
    1) If I’m kneading it with the hand mixer, I knead the dough for about 8 minutes at low speed and then for 5 minutes on medium high speed.
    2) With the kitchen machine I knead the dough for 7 minutes at low speed (speed 1, on Bosch kitchen machine) and for 3 more minutes at medium high speed (speed 3).
    3) With the hands, I knead the dough for about 10 to 12 minutes. If the dough is sticky when kneading with the hands, just oil them with few drops of vegetable oil. If you’re using a heavy duty kitchen machine, please knead your dough for maximum 7 minutes in total. Otherwise you will be overworking the dough.
  • Shape the dough into a ball. Cover the bowl with cling film and then with a tea towel and let it rise in a warm place for about 45 minutes or until dough has doubled in size.
    *If it’s cold where you are, just preheat your oven to 50 °C (122 °F) while making the dough, turn it off and let the dough rise in the preheated switched off oven for the indicated time.
  • In the meantime, rub a baking dish with butter and line with a parchment paper. I used a 45×37 cm (17.72 x 14.57 inch) baking sheet. After the first rise, tip the dough in the middle of the baking dish and rub your hands with a few drops of olive oil.
  • Using your hands carefully press out the dough out to fit the baking sheet to the edges and corners. You want to retain the air bubbles in the dough intact so that you have a nicely fluffy and a soft flatbread.
  • Loosely cover the baking dish with a kitchen towel. Let the dough rise for another 20 minutes. In the meantime, preheat the oven to to 200 °C (392 °F), with both up and low heat.
  • After the second rise, put a few drops of olive oil onto your fingers and rub them. Then gently press your oiled fingertips into the dough to create dimples.
  • Drizzle the top with olive oil and then sprinkle with coarse salt and chopped fresh rosemary.
  • Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Drizzle with olive oil and enjoy while still warm.
  • This bread can stay fresh up to 3 days. Just wrap it in a plastic or cover it with a clean kitchen towel, so that it will stay moist.

Notes

  1. If it's cold where you are, just preheat your oven to 50 ° C (122 °F) while making the dough, turn it off and let the dough rise in preheated switched off oven for the given time.
  2. This bread can stay fresh up to 3 days. Just wrap it in a plastic or cover it with a clean kitchen towel, so that it will stay moist.