Rosemary & Sea Salt Focaccia with Confit Garlic

⏱ 150 min · Serves 8

A pillowy, olive-oil-soaked focaccia with a shatteringly crisp golden base, dimpled and studded with sweet confit garlic, rosemary and flaky salt. The slow fridge rise does all the hard work for you — the dough needs no kneading, just a few gentle folds.

Per serving: 345 kcal · 8.5g protein · 49.0g carbs · 12.5g fat

Ingredients

• 500g strong white bread flour
• 400ml lukewarm water
• 7g fast-action dried yeast
• 10g fine sea salt
• 1 tsp honey or caster sugar
• 80ml extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• 1 whole head of garlic, cloves peeled
• 3 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves picked
• 1 tsp flaky sea salt
• 1 tbsp semolina or coarse polenta (optional, for the tin)

Method

1. Whisk the yeast and honey into the lukewarm water and leave for 5 minutes until slightly foamy.
2. In a large bowl, mix the flour and fine salt. Pour in the yeast water and 2 tbsp of the olive oil. Stir with a spoon or wet hand until you have a shaggy, very wet dough with no dry flour left. Don't knead.
3. Cover and rest 15 minutes, then wet your hand and do a set of folds: lift an edge of the dough, stretch it up and fold to the centre, turning the bowl and repeating 4 times. Rest 15 minutes and repeat the folds twice more (about 45 minutes total).
4. Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or up to 24 — this builds the flavour. (In a hurry, leave at room temperature for 1.5 hours until doubled instead.)
5. Meanwhile, make the confit garlic: put the peeled cloves in a small pan with 60ml olive oil, bring to the barest simmer and cook very gently for 20 minutes until soft and pale gold. Cool and reserve the oil.
6. Oil a 30 x 20cm baking tin generously (scatter with semolina first if using). Tip in the dough, drizzle with 1 tbsp garlic oil and gently coax it towards the corners. Cover and leave at room temperature for 1.5-2 hours until puffy and jiggly — cold dough needs the full time.
7. Heat the oven to 220C fan / 240C conventional. Oil your fingers and press straight down through the dough to make deep dimples all over. Nestle the garlic cloves into some of the dimples, scatter over rosemary and flaky salt, and drizzle with the remaining garlic oil.
8. Bake for 22-25 minutes until deep golden and crisp at the edges. Slide out of the tin onto a rack immediately so the base stays crunchy.
9. Brush with a little more olive oil and cool for at least 10 minutes before tearing into squares.