Sourdough focaccia with fresh thyme

7 April 2021

This sourdough focaccia is a perfect choice to spoil yourself: it is gorgeous, fresh, and smells divine.

Thyme is one of my favorite ingredients, and I use it every time I can, whole or chopped, for meat, fish, bread (for example some hearty ricotta and thyme sourdough rolls), focaccia or savory baking, chicken, roasts, soups.
You can add it to a dish at any stage of cooking and it normally gives a pronounced, concentrated herbal flavor with sharp grass and floral notes. Even if you don’t have a garden, it’s quite easy to grow it even in an indoor planter year-round.

I added some black olives paste to enrich the flavor and create the right balance, but mostly because I am mad about it. I usually use the Italian brand Valbona because I love the high quality of the products.

As you will see, in this recipe I like to add a small percentage of whole-grain rye flour first of all because I like the taste and also because it helps the dough fermentation affecting the final result but of course, it’s up to you.
I tried other versions adding a percentage of Khorasan flour, spelt flour (white and whole-grain), and whole-grain flour.

Here is what you need:

360 gr of white bread flour [90%]
40 gr of whole-grain rye flour [10%]
320 ml of water [80%]
80 gr of sourdough starter [20%]
8 gr of salt [2%]

How to do:

Feed your sourdough starter and allow it to become fully active and ready to use.
In a large bowl add water and flour and mix until incorporated. Cover and rest for 30-60 minutes, in order to hydrate the flour.
Add the sourdough starter into the bowl and mix until it is completely incorporated.
At this point add salt and knead in the bowl for 2-3 minutes until fully incorporated.
Cover with a kitchen towel and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, reach into the bowl and grab the top of the dough. Pull it up and into the center. Turn the bowl one quarter and repeat. Continue to turn the bowl one quarter and perform the stretching and folding method 4 times. Repeat these folds every 30 minutes for the next 2 hours.
Let it rest for about 2 hours more.
Cover the bowl and put it to rest in the refrigerator overnight, roughly 12-18 hours (you can leave it up to 24 hours).
The next morning take the dough out of the refrigerator and leave it at room temperature for about 1 hour.
Generously pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a pan.
Use your hand to gently deflate the dough and release it from the sides of the bowl. Scoop the dough, gently, into the center of the pan.
Let the dough sit for about 4 hours or until bubbly and nearly doubled.
Once the dough is bubbly or almost doubled, preheat your oven to 230°C.
While the oven preheats, rub your fingers lightly with oil and press gently into the dough to stretch it and create dimples all along the dough, pressing all the way to the bottom of the pan. Push the dough until it reaches the sides of the pan.
Sprinkle the dough generously with sea salt and any toppings you wish.
Place the pan in your preheated oven and bake for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown.
Remove from the oven and let your focaccia cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing… if you can of course.