#BWBO Week 3 - Sea Salt & Rosemary Focaccia

This week saw the arrival of bread week, one I've been very excited about! I love baking and eating bread and I, again, decided to make one of my favourites after a lack of inspiration from this week's show (like hell I could make a lion out of bread). I discovered real home made focaccia only a couple of years ago and fell in love. My local monthly markets features lots of artisan bread makers which is my main inspiration for this new recipe.

I'll apologise now for the lack of good photography, it's a bit of a hectic week both in work and at home. Also, my hands were incredibly oily during the recipe! A warning for anyone who wants to recreate these, have lots of oil to hand at all times.

I really enjoyed making this recipe, and it was nice to make something new again. I just want to thank Silver Mushroom for making the competition possible and getting me back into blogging and baking, this was the push I needed!

Ingredients:

• 140ml olive oil
• 500g strong white bread flour
• 10g salt
• 10g instant dried yeast
• 4/5 sprigs of rosemary
• Flaky sea salt to taste

Method:

1. Lightly oil a 2/3 litre square plastic container for proving later on
2. Add the flour to a large mixing bowl along with the rosemary. Also add the salt and yeast on opposite sides to avoid killing the yeast
3. Add around 3/4 of the water and 40ml of the olive oil, mix the dough together with your fingers
4. Continue to add more water a splash at a time until the dough turns into a sticky ball and all the flour has been picked up
5. Coat a large section of your work surface with olive oil and begin to knead the dough. Avoid using flour as this will make the bread too dry
6. Work through the initial wet stage until the dough becomes elastic and smooth, place into the oiled tub and cover with a tea towel. Leave to prove in a warm place for around an hour or until doubled in size
7. When the dough has proved, line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Drizzle the baking paper with olive oil and a small amount of semolina if you have any
8. Drizzle more oil on your work surface and divide the dough in half and place them onto the baking trays then into clean plastic bags to prove for another hour or until doubled
9. While proving, preheat the oven to 220C / 200C fan / Gas 7
10. Using splayed fingers, make dimples in the bread all the way to the bottom of the bread, touching the baking paper
11. Drizzle the bread with more olive oil and flaky sea salt then bake for 15 minutes or until cooked through. The bread will have a soggy bottom, which I failed to realise after a while, this is because of the oil
12. Drizzle with a tiny bit more oil and leave to cool on a wire rack

As you can tell, this isn't a recipe for anyone who isn't fond of olive oil! I enjoy dunking mine in even more oil and balsamic vinegar, or making sandwiches with good quality ham or salami.

If you decide to try this recipe, let me know and share your pictures with me!