Rosemary Focaccia Sheet

This, too, is from Rose Levy Berenbaum’s Bread Bible. It’s a difficult recipe, because the dough is so wet. It has a few of my modifications in it.

Ingredients

• 450g all-purpose flour (use something good)
• 1/2 t vital wheat gluten (unless your flour’s really strong – even King Arthur’s bread flour isn’t strong enough for me here in Chicago)
• 3/8 t yeast
• 412g water
• 3/4 t sugar
• 3/4 t salt
• 2 T olive oil
• 2 t fresh or dried rosemary
• 1/4 t sea salt

Instructions

A kitchenaid is required for this recipe. Trust me. You’ll also want a silpat.

1. proof the yeast in the water
2. Combine the flour, sugar, and gluten in the mixer
3. With the mixer at #2, add the yeasty water slowly. I use the paddle instead of the hook, as the dough is essentially a batter.
4. Mix at #2 until the dough starts to string together – it will still be soupy.
5. Mix at #4 until the dough cleans the bowl, probably just under 20 minutes.
6. Add the salt and mix to combine
7. Oil your hands and a rising bowl thouroughly. Use your hand to spread oil on the side of the mixer bowl, and roll the dough out over that oiled area and into the oiled rising bowl. Rose says it looks like melted mozzarella, which is a perfect description.
8. Cover and rise until doubled, about 4 hours.
9. Pour the dough onto the silpat, and spread it into a rough rectangle, dimpling it with your fingers.
10. sprinkle the rosemary and sea salt over the dough
11. Allow it to rest for 10-20m
12. Bake at 475 for 12-13 minutes, or until the top turns gold.

Notes

If the dough never cleans the bowl, then your dough is short on gluten. This recipe depends on gluten formation to hold the extremely soupy dough together, the result being a dough with an enormous crumb and incredibly light texture. There are two things you can do – increase the flour (which will reduce the soupiness, resulting in a more dense loaf), or increase the gluten, either with a harder flour or by the addition of more vital wheat gluten.