No Knead Reduced Sodium Focaccia
Enjoy deliciously fluffy and golden reduced sodium focaccia bread with this easy-to-follow recipe. Made with mashed potato for added moisture and texture, this focaccia is perfect for beginners and experienced bakers alike. With simple ingredients and customizable toppings, it's versatile for any occasion. Serve it as a side, use it for sandwiches, or savor it on its own. Your kitchen will quickly become a favorite spot with this delightful low sodium focaccia recipe!
Ingredients
- 250 g Bread flour
- 25 g Caster sugar
- 3 g Cooking salt
- 190 ml Warm water
- 20 ml Olive oil
- 125 g Mashed potato or sweet potato/ pumpkin puree
- 2 tbs Olive oil for baking
Optional Toppings
- Cherry Tomatoes halved/ colourful tomato medley, sun-dried tomatoes/ Aromatics and herbs of your choice
Instructions
- Make Mashed Potato. Peel and cut potatoes to even size. Boil under fully tender. Drain and mash well until smooth and lump-free. Set aside to cool.
- Mix all dry ingredients. Place flour, salt, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl and mix well with a firm rubber spatula.
- Add the wet ingredients by making a well in the center of the dry, then adding olive oil and warm water. Mix with spatula until you can no longer see flour. The dough should be sticky – too sticky to knead by hand.
- Add mashed potato. Using a folding motion, start mixing it through using the spatula. Then start smearing it along the walls of the bowl. Once the potato is evenly incorporated, shape roughly into a ball in the bowl.
- First Rise: Cover the bowl with cling wrap and place it in a warm place for 25-30 minutes until it doubles in size.
- Fold Dough: Get another large bowl, scrape the dough in. Began folding the dough by grabbing and stretching one corner of the dough away from the main body of the dough and then folding it on top over itself. Do this 6 times giving the bowl a quarter turn after each fold.
- 2nd Rise: Cover the bowl with cling wrap and place it in a warm place for a further 25-30 minutes until it doubles in size.
- Prepare the the baking tray/ cake tin by drizzling 1 tbs of olive oil and spreading it all over the base and side of the tin.
- Finely Chop up all your aromatics and slice fresh tomatoes in half if using.
- Preheat your oven to 220C. Oven needs to be very hot to create a nice crusty outside
- When the dough has doubled in size. Scrape the dough into the prepared pan and stretch the dough to fit size of your pan.
- Third Rise & Final rise: Put the pan in a warm, moist place for 30-40 minutes until it rises and fills the pan. Depending on where you live and how cold it is, this time may vary. Ideally have the room temperature around 24 degrees. Or you can place the dough in the microwave with a hot cup of water to make the environment warmer.
- Once the dough has done it's final rise, drizzle the surface with 1Tbs of olive oil and spread the oil lightly with your fingers. Next, create Focaccia's signature dimpled look by pushing your fingers deep into the dough right down to the base of the pan. Do this a few times all over the dough. The dough will deflate a little but that's normal. Sprinkle herbs and toppings of choice.
- BAKE: Bake focaccia for 25 minutes on the middle rack of the oven. Bread is done when you see a deep golden colour and outside is crusty.
- Once baked, remove the bread from tin and cool on a wire rack.
- After cooling, you might consider slicing the bread into quarters for use as sandwich bread, or into smaller portions to accompany a main meal. Focaccia is at its best when served warm and fresh from the oven.