MY GO-TO FOCACCIA RECIPE 🍞 quick, no-knead, no fold!

I grew up eating chunks of focaccia torn with my grimy little hands straight from the bakery bag. We've always loved a good focaccia at home — not too thick, lightly golden, usually plain, and always impossibly soft.

It’s one of those bakes you pick up from the corner panificio rather than make yourself. So I can honestly say I’d never tried my hand at it until recently.

As a new mom, it's taking me a lot of effort, frustration, and looking inward to surrender to the limitations of this season of life. Something I've had to let go of is long, challenging baking projects. My baby's nap schedule is what I follow now, not rising intervals! What I've realised, though, is that adapting to motherhood is not about giving up the things I used to enjoy doing, but rather to reimagine how I pursue them - to find new modalities that meet me where I am. 

Radically simple bakes - with bold flavours - is what I do now. The kind of treats that bring joy and remind me that I can still feed myself and my family well, even when I feel undone: one bowl cakes with pantry essentials or seasonal fruit, for example. Or ready made puff pastry tarts with well seasoned veggies. Airfryer roasted potatoes! 

And this genius focaccia... so simple and doable I make it once a week, with a baby glued to my hip. 

Why I love it: it’s reliable, forgiving, and versatile. It always works (even when you mess things up a little), and begs to be customized with anything you have at hand. It doesn’t require kneading, folding, or advance planning. It comes together in just a few hours with little to no hands-on time (or washing up). And you don’t even need bread flour — plain, all-purpose will do just fine. A real workhorse of a recipe. 

Here's how I do it:

EASY, QUICK, NO-KNEAD, NO FOLDING FOCACCIA

This is as easy as it gets: mix all your ingredients and leave to rise for 2 hours. Bake for 15 minutes and voilà, dinner is ready. You'll need a 30x20 cm baking tin with tall sides. 

(Adapted from Emily Salomon's cold rise buns.)

*Ingredients

330 ml lukewarm water

1 tsp mild honey (or sugar)

1 tsp dried yeast (about 2.5 gr)

400 gr flour

1/2 tbsp salt

25 g olive oil + extra for the tin and topping

3 handfuls pitted olives or rosemary (optional)

Flaky salt

Ice cubes for baking steam

*Method

1. Stir the honey into the warm water. Add the yeast and let it sit for about 5 minutes, until it starts to bubble and foam - this means it’s alive and active.

2. Add the flour and salt, and give it a good stir with a fork. Pour in the olive oil and mix well until you have a soft, sticky dough.

3. Cover and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size - about 2 hours.

4. Preheat the oven to 225°C (fan). Line and lightly oil a 30×20 cm baking tin with tall sides. Tip the dough into the tin and gently stretch it out with oiled fingers.

5. Drizzle more olive oil on top and dimple the dough. Add the olives and a sprinkle of flaky salt. Let the focaccia prove while the oven finishes heating.

6. Once the oven is ready, place a tray filled with ice cubes at the bottom to create steam, followed by the focaccia.

7. Bake on the middle rack for about 15 minutes, or until golden and puffed.

8. Transfer from the lined tin to a platter or chopping board to prevent a soggy bottom and wait 10 minutes before serving.

9. Keeps well in an airtight container.

*Recipe notes 📝 

• Thickness. This recipe yields a medium-thickness focaccia. For a thicker focaccia you can slice and stuff, use a smaller tin. For a thinner, crispier one, use a larger tin and spread the dough out with your hands.
• Toppings: rosemary, thinly sliced potatoes, cherry tomatoes, onions, capers... and with a lick of tomato sauce, you get pizza alta - a tall, fluffy take on classic pizza.
• Chewiness and flours: If you prefer your focaccia chewy rather than pillowy, try using only bread flour, or a mix of bread and plain (all-purpose) flour. Alternatively, if you're working with a weaker flour (like plain or all-purpose, or anything with less than 13g of protein per 100g), you can give the dough a few folds after tipping it into the tin — right before spreading it out and adding oil or toppings. You’ll notice it becoming more elastic and bouncy with each fold.

Happy baking!

Sinù xx

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