Focaccia al Rosmarino with Olives (Italian Fasting Flatbread)

Focaccia is the most forgiving bread in the world. It wants a lot of olive oil, a lot of salt, and a sharp oven. It does not want careful measurements or patience. You mix the dough Friday night, shape it Saturday morning, bake it by lunch, and eat half the pan standing at the counter.

This is not Orthodox-specific, but it is genuinely Lenten food: olive oil, flour, water, salt, yeast, rosemary, olives. That is the whole list. A thick wedge of focaccia with a bowl of bean soup is one of the great simple meals of the fast.

NUTRITION (per piece, 1/12 of a pan)

- Protein: ~5g
- Calories: ~250
- Fat: ~11g (almost entirely from olive oil)
- Monounsaturated fats from the olive oil and olives

INGREDIENTS (makes one 23x33cm (9x13 inch) pan)

For the dough:
- 500g bread flour (or "00" flour if you can find it)
- 1.5 tsp fine salt
- 2 tsp instant yeast
- 400ml warm water (about 80% hydration — this is a wet dough)
- 3 tbsp olive oil

For the topping:
- 1/2 cup olive oil, divided (yes, really)
- Flaky sea salt
- 3 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup mixed olives, pitted and halved (Kalamata, Castelvetrano, or both)
- Optional: 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

METHOD

1. Whisk flour, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. Add the water and the 3 tbsp of oil. Mix with a spoon or your hand until it forms a shaggy, very wet dough. Do not knead — focaccia is high hydration and works best with minimal handling.

2. Cover the bowl and let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Then wet your hand, reach under the dough, and fold it over itself once. Turn the bowl 90 degrees and fold again. Repeat for all four sides. This is a "stretch and fold" — it builds gluten without kneading.

3. Cover and refrigerate overnight (8-24 hours). The slow cold fermentation is what makes focaccia taste like focaccia.

4. The next day, pour 3 tablespoons of olive oil into your pan and spread it to coat the bottom. Tip the dough out of the bowl into the pan — do not fight it, let it blob out. Drizzle another 2 tablespoons of oil on top.

5. Let it rise at room temperature for 2 hours, or until it has spread to fill the pan and looks pillowy and bubbly. Do NOT poke it yet.

6. Preheat oven to 230°C (450°F).

7. Dimple the dough enthusiastically with oiled fingertips, pressing down to the bottom of the pan in an irregular pattern. Drizzle the remaining 3 tbsp of olive oil over the top — it should pool in the dimples.

8. Scatter the rosemary, olives, optional garlic, and a generous pinch of flaky salt across the surface.

9. Bake 22-28 minutes until the top is deeply golden and the edges are crispy. Rotate the pan halfway through.

10. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then slide onto a rack. Cut into squares or rectangles and serve warm.

STRICT DAYS

Focaccia is fundamentally an oil bread. If you are keeping strict fasting days, bake a different bread. A no-oil focaccia is not really focaccia.

NOTES

Focaccia is best the day it is baked but good toasted the next day. Leftovers make excellent vehicles for hummus, fresh tomato, and capers. Freezes well — wrap tightly and freeze up to a month, reheat directly from frozen in a 200°C oven for 8 minutes.