Rosemary Focaccia Bread

A classic Rosemary Focaccia Bread made with simple pantry ingredients. This traditional Italian focaccia is good served as it is or can be used to make sandwiches, dunk into a hot bowl of soup or get adventurous and try out different toppings.

Rosemary focaccia is one of our favourite Italian breads.

It's crispy but light, salty with peppery olive oil and tastes good especially when it's still warm.

If it's your first time making rosemary focaccia then don't worry it's much easier than you may think.

Focaccia is made with a yeast dough that's left to rise twice (once in a bowl and once in the baking tray).

Fresh rosemary, sea salt and olive oil is a classic flavour combination but when it comes to toppings the list is endless. You can even make Focaccia Pizza topped with tomato and mozzarella, good!

What You Need to Make Rosemary Focaccia

• 00 Flour (or strong bread flour)
• fast-action yeast
• sugar
• Sea salt flakes
• Olive oil
• Warm water

How to make Rosemary Focaccia – Step By Step

First, add the flour to a large mixing bowl.

Make a well in the middle of the bowl then pour the yeast and sugar in the middle (photo 1).

Place the salt at one side away from the yeast.

Pour the water and olive oil into the middle of the well and using a wooden spoon or spatula mix everything together (photo 3).

Once the dough comes together tip it out onto a clean work surface lightly dusted with flour.

Knead the dough for 10 minutes until smooth and springy (press your finger lightly into the dough and if it springs back it's ready) (photo 4-5).

Clean and dry the mixing bowl then lightly coat it in olive oil.

Place the ball of dough in the bowl and lightly rub the top of it with olive oil.

Cover with plastic wrap or cling film and place in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size (not hot and not in direct sunlight).

Once the dough has doubled in size remove it and cut it in half.

Place the dough in two separate oiled baking trays and spread it out to fit the trays. If you only want to make one then you can freeze the other half (photo 7).

Let the dough rise in the trays for another hour or more.

When ready to bake use your fingers to make dimples over the dough, sprinkle over fresh rosemary, sea salt flakes and olive oil (photo 8).

Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden and baked through.

Different Focaccia Toppings to Try

• Mozzarella – (this post originally included mozzarella but we thought it would be best to post the original, classic recipe and give optional toppings).
• Tomato sauce – top this focaccia with our Authentic Italian Tomato Sauce it's good and another popular option in Italy.
• Caramelised onions – suited to an umami hit
• Veggies – Mushrooms, bell peppers or other veggies you like
• Different cheeses – taleggio and stracchino are great options

Can You Make Rosemary Focaccia in a KitchenAid or Stand Mixer?

Yes, you can but we always recommend making it from hand if it's your first time.

We always know the dough is ready because of how it feels (soft and springy) so if you're not used to making focaccia we recommend doing it by hand first to get used to it.

To make the dough in a stand mixer use a dough hook and knead the dough for around 5 minutes until soft and smooth.

Top Tip: to test the dough is ready lightly push your finger into the dough and if it springs back it's ready.

How to Freeze Focaccia

You can freeze baked rosemary focaccia in individual portions then thaw as needed and reheat.

You can also freeze the focaccia dough before baking in portion sizes (usually in two as this make two large focaccia breads).

Thaw before baking then bake as instructed in the recipe card below

Top tips for making this recipe

• If you don't have type 00 flour you can use strong bread flour.
• Make sure not to place the salt directly on top of the yeast as it can kill it and prevent the dough from rising so well.
• Use a good quality extra virgin olive oil for making the focaccia and drizzling on top.
• Let the rosemary focaccia cool for around 10 minutes before cutting and serving.
• To use it as a sandwich simply cut in half.
• You can also make the focaccia in a round or square tray if you prefer.

More Italian snacks you might like:

• La Piadina: Italian Flatbread
• Gnocco Fritto (Italian Fried Dough)
• Cecina Toscana Tuscan Chickpea Flatbread
• Bagna Cauda Recipe (Anchovy, Garlic & Butter Dip)
• Easy Marinated Olives – Ready In 5 Minutes
• Fried Sausage Stuffed Olives – good And Crispy

Ingredients

Makes 12 servings

For the dough

• ~4 cups 00 flour plus extra for dusting ((500g))
• 1 1/3 cups + 1 tbsp warm water ((320ml))
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp sugar
• ~2 tsp fast action dried yeast ((7g))
• 1 tsp salt

For the topping

• 1-2 large sprigs fresh rosemary
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• sea salt flakes

Method

1. First, add the flour to a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle of the bowl then pour the yeast and sugar in the middle. Make sure to place the salt at one side away from the yeast.

2. Pour the water and olive oil into the middle of the well and using a wooden spoon or spatula mix everything together. Once the dough comes together tip it out onto a clean work surface lightly dusted with flour.

3. Knead the dough for 10 minutes until smooth and springy (press your finger lightly into the dough and if it springs back it's ready).

4. Clean and dry the mixing bowl then lightly coat it in olive oil. Place the ball of dough in the bowl and lightly rub the top of it with olive oil.

5. Cover with plastic wrap or cling film and place in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size (not hot and not in direct sunlight).

6. Once the dough has doubled in size remove it and cut it in half. Place the dough in two separate oiled baking trays (we used 10x15inch) and spread it out to fit the trays. If you only want to make one then you can freeze the other half.

7. Let the dough rise in the trays for another hour or more.

8. Preheat the oven to 230C (450F) or your hottest setting. When ready to bake use your fingers to make dimples over the dough, sprinkle over fresh rosemary, sea salt flakes and olive oil.

9. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden and baked through.

Kitchen notes

• If you don't have type 00 flour you can use strong bread flour.
• Make sure not to place the salt directly on top of the yeast as it can kill it and prevent the dough from rising so well.
• Use a good quality extra virgin olive oil for making the focaccia and drizzling on top.
• Let the rosemary focaccia cool for around 10 minutes before cutting and serving.
• To use it as a sandwich cut in half.
• You can also make the focaccia in a round or square tray if you prefer.