Do you guys remember that time I made “rosemary focaccia” out of pizza dough? Aka I sprinkled rosemary on pizza dough and called it a day?

I almost a little embarrassed to relive that time. Now that I’ve made this.

THIS.

Beautiful, crispy, chewy, tastes-like-its-been-soaked-in-butter (without using any actual butter) rosemary focaccia.

I’ve been running around my house saying “foKAcheeA. foKAHchia. fokahsha!” gleefully. It is SO good. Even if I don’t know how to pronounce it.

It’s a work of art.

Work being the operative word there. This baby takes 2 days and lots of love - but no kneading! I’ll attempt to take you through the steps now.

(recipe below)

Day 1

Make your starter.

I’ve always been a little intimidated by starters. For some reason I thought of a starter as a really complicated and sophisticated baking technique, so I refused to make any bread that called for one. Which is pretty much all breads.

Boy, was I wrong.

A started is just yeast, flour, and warm water that you leave in a bowl to ferment overnight. That’s it. It takes 2 minutes.

And it will look like this the next day:

As long as you see bubbles, you’re in business!

Day 2

Make the focaccia.

First, you add some more flour, yeast, and warm water to your starter. Then there are a series of rising, turning, stirring, rising steps.

And voila, dough!

Then you split the dough in half and add toppings.

Santa brought me some pink Himalayan salt for Christmas, so I sprinkled some of that on top of the dough. I think it really glammed up the final product.

Finally, you stick it in the oven.

My family managed to polish off one of these babies in mere minutes. We are attempting to save the second one for dinner tonight. Y-u-u-u-m. Y-u-m-m-m-m. Yum.

Rosemary Focaccia (adapted from Cooks Illustrated 2010)

Ingredients

For the starter:

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup warm water (100-110°F - or as hot as your tap will go)
• 1/4 teaspoon rapid-rise yeast

For the dough:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups warm water
• 1 teaspoon rapid-rise yeast
• salt
• 3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

Directions

1. Mix ingredients for the starter until all flour is absorbed. Allow to sit, covered in plastic wrap overnight, or for at least 8 hours.
2. Stir flour, water, and yeast into starter with a wooden spoon until all the flour is absorbed. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise at warm room temperature for 15 minutes.
3. Sprinkle 2 teaspoons salt over dough, stir until incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 30 more minutes.
4. Spray rubber spatula with cooking spray, fold dough over itself by picking up an edge and folding over as you turn the bowl slightly. Turn until all dough has been folded, or about 8 times. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 30 minutes.
5. Repeat step 4 twice.
6. At least 30 minutes before baking, preheat oven and baking stone (or you can use an overturned rimmed baking sheet) to 500°F.
7. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and sprinkle with a bit more flour. Divide dough in half and shape each half into a circle.
8. Coat two 9-inch round cake pans with 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil each. Sprinkle each pan with 1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt, depending on your taste.
9. Place round of dough, top side down, into pan, and slide around to coat with oil. Flip the dough over and repeat. Cover pans with plastic wrap and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
10. Gently press dough to the edges of the pan. Using a fork, poke surface of dough 25-30 times, making sure to pop any large bubbles. Sprinkle rosemary evenly over the top, cover, and allow to rest for 5-10 more minutes.
11. Place pans on baking stone (or sheet), and reduce the oven temperature to 450°F. Bake until tops are golden brown, 25-28 minutes, switching the pans position on the stone halfway through.
12. Allow focaccia to cool in pans for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!!