Rosemary Focaccia

Focaccia is a forgiving bread to bake and a generous one to eat, and rosemary is arguably its single most natural partner: pushed into deep dimples across the surface, it toasts gently in the oven’s heat and perfumes the whole loaf rather than simply sitting on top of it. This is a straightforward, slow-fermented focaccia built around good olive oil, flaky salt and fresh rosemary, with nothing more complicated going on than time. Rosemary’s own long history, including its far older association with memory rather than the kitchen, is covered in full in The Botanical Archives No. 007.

Why rosemary belongs in bread, not just beside it

Rosemary is often used as a garnish, scattered over a finished dish more for appearance than flavour. Baked into focaccia, it behaves differently. Pushed into the dough before baking and drizzled generously with olive oil, the needles crisp slightly at the tips while staying tender where they meet the dough, and the oven’s heat draws out rosemary’s resinous, slightly piney aromatic compounds far more effectively than raw contact ever could. The bread ends up genuinely rosemary-flavoured throughout, not just rosemary-scented on top.

Ingredients

• 500g strong white bread flour
• 2 tsp fine sea salt
• 7g fast-action dried yeast (one sachet)
• 350ml lukewarm water
• 6 tbsp olive oil, divided, plus extra for the tin
• 3 to 4 tbsp fresh rosemary needles, roughly chopped, plus a few whole sprigs for the top
• Flaky sea salt, for finishing

Method

1. Make the dough

   Combine the flour and fine salt in a large bowl, then stir the yeast into the lukewarm water and leave for a minute before adding it to the flour along with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Mix until a rough, wet dough forms; this dough is meant to be considerably slacker and stickier than a dough you could knead by hand on a worktop, which is exactly what gives focaccia its open, airy crumb.

2. Fold, rather than knead

   Instead of traditional kneading, use a wet hand to grab one side of the dough, stretch it upward and fold it over onto itself, turning the bowl a quarter turn each time, for six or eight folds. Cover and rest for 30 minutes, then repeat the folding two more times at 30-minute intervals. This builds structure gently without needing to work a wet dough on a floured surface.

3. First prove

   After the final fold, cover the bowl and leave somewhere warm for 2 to 3 hours, until roughly doubled in size and visibly bubbly at the surface.

4. Into the tin

   Generously oil a large baking tray or tin, roughly 30 x 20cm, and tip the dough into it. Rather than pressing it out immediately, let it rest for 15 minutes so the gluten relaxes, then use oiled fingertips to gently stretch and press it towards the edges of the tin. If it resists and springs back, leave it another 10 minutes and try again rather than forcing it.

5. Second prove and dimple

   Cover loosely and leave for 45 minutes to an hour, until visibly puffy. Just before baking, drizzle over the remaining olive oil and use all your fingertips to press deep dimples across the entire surface, right down to the tin in places. Push the chopped rosemary and a few whole sprigs into the dimples, then scatter flaky sea salt generously over the top.

6. Bake

   Bake at 220°C conventional, 200°C fan or Gas 7 for 22 to 25 minutes, until deeply golden, particularly around the edges and in the oil-pooled dimples. Remove from the tin promptly and cool on a wire rack, though focaccia is arguably at its best still slightly warm.

A note on the oil

Because olive oil is used generously both in and on this bread, its flavour genuinely matters here in a way it might not in a recipe where it is used more sparingly. A robust, peppery, good-quality olive oil earns its place; a thin, flavourless one leaves the finished bread noticeably blander than the same recipe made with something better.

What to eat it with

Good focaccia barely needs anything, but it is considerably better with something to eat alongside it than eaten plain, and rosemary’s resinous, slightly bitter character wants something cool and creamy to sit against. We built exactly that: Whipped Herby Ricotta, a soft, lemony, herb-flecked dip that takes the same fresh herbs in an entirely different direction.

Storage

Focaccia is genuinely best eaten the day it is baked, while the crust is still crisp and the crumb still soft, but leftovers keep in an airtight container for a day or two and reheat well in a hot oven for a few minutes. It also freezes well, wrapped tightly once completely cool, for up to two months.