I’m a simple girl. Who loves her simple carbs. Pasta, potatoes, rice. Love it all. But my favorite carb is bread.
I’ve really been enjoying the no-kneed bread (it took me forever to get on the bandwagon, but about a year and a half ago, I tried it out for the first time.. and was hooked.) So, I nearly shared that recipe today.
But then I decided that the recipe is so ubiquitous, you don’t need me posting it for the bazillionth time.
So instead, today I am going to share the recipe to a wonderful rosemary focaccia. I used to make this focaccia all.the.time – I don’t know why I stopped making it, but I plan to rectify that immediately!
Although this recipe is very simple to throw together, the results are quite impressive. And truly, is there anything better than the smell of rosemary baking? (Other than, you know, the smell of chocolate cake baking…)
Rosemary Focaccia
Adapted from Food.com
- 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
- 3/4 cup warm water
- 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary (I like to just “shear” the leaves off the stalk – you can substitute 2-3 tsp of dried, as well)
- coarse salt
- Dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup of the warm water, and let sit 10 minutes until bubbly.
- In large bowl, combine flour and table salt. Pour in yeast mixture and remaining water.
- Combine mixture well, first with a wooden spoon and then your hands if necessary.
- Transfer to a floured surface and knead by hand until smooth (2-3 minutes).
- Place in large, well-oiled bowl, cover with Saran wrap, and let rise for 1.5 hours until doubled in size.
- Toward the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 425 ° F.
- Punch down risen dough and press into oiled baking sheet.
- Use the tip of your index finger to lightly dimple the surface (this is optional, but it does look pretty). Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with coarse salt and rosemary.
- Bake 20 minutes or until lightly golden on top.
- Serve warm, if possible, with a bowl of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a sprinkling of grated parmesan cheese.
Buon appetito!
If you’re looking for challah recipes, I have shared our truly scrumptious bread machine recipe challah and our Rosh Hashana apple challah recipe.
Do you have a favorite bread recipe? Yeast or quick bread – share either. Or both! Also, tell me, have you tried the yummilicious no knead bread? What did you think?
Link up with the linky to a post on your blog – or leave your recipes and comments down below. Thanks so much!
(Don’t forget you can use the Print PDF button below to print or save a copy of this recipe for your files.)
My fav. bread recipes are all from other source (cookbooks, websites, etc.), nothing original… but I have a good tip for homemade bread: If you want to use 100% whole wheat flour, add 1 Tbsp wheat gluten for every cup of flour. You’ll get soft, fluffy breads that are 100% whole wheat.
I don’t reduce the total flour to accommodate for the gluten, but if you’re making a really big batch, you could go by this: 4 cups reg flour = 3 3/4 cups whole wheat + 1/4 c gluten.
I shared four of my favorite bread recipes but I could KEEP GOING!!! I just didn’t think I should monopolize things here. Bread is my favorite carb too! And I also have forgotten about focaccia. Yum. That looks wonderful. I can just smell the fresh rosemary.
Our recipes come out of cookbooks, so I can’t actually share them, but if you’re interested in bread and making it, our absolute favorite book is The Bread Baker’s Apprentice by Peter Reinhart. We’ve been making the Lavash multiple times a week.