At eighty percent hydration this dough is closer to a batter than to bread, so there is nothing to knead. A spatula folds it together, half an hour in the fridge tightens it enough to handle, and the oven does the rest. Pumpkin and onion go on raw and cook in the same twenty minutes as the bread.
Italian · Bread
High-Hydration Focaccia With Pumpkin and Cheese
Eighty percent water, folded rather than kneaded, then baked with onion, pumpkin and Camembert until the top is a sheet of crisp cheese.
- Prep55 min
- Cook20 min
- Serves8
- LevelEasy
Ingredients
| 250 g | bread flour |
| 200 g | water , cold |
| 3 g | instant yeast |
| 3 g | salt |
| 15 g | olive oil |
| 1/2 | onion , sliced into half moons |
| 1/2 | pumpkin , in thin slices |
| 50 g | Camembert , torn |
| 1 tsp | flaky salt |
Method
- Stir the water, olive oil and yeast together until the yeast has dissolved.
- Add the flour and salt and fold with a spatula until no dry flour is left, then cover and chill for 30 minutes.
- Oil a baking tin generously and pour the dough in. Oil the surface as well, so it does not dry while it comes up to room temperature.
- Press the dough out towards the corners with oiled fingers, dimpling as you go.
- Lay the onion and pumpkin over the top and press the Camembert into the dimples.
- Bake at 200 °C for 20 minutes, until the edge has pulled away from the tin and the cheese has gone crisp in patches.
Notes
- Cold water and a cold rest keep the dough from running. Warm water at this hydration gives a puddle that will not hold the dimples.
- Do not crowd the toppings. Pumpkin releases water, and a thick layer steams the crumb under it.
- Eat it the day it is baked. Focaccia tightens overnight and the cheese goes leathery.
Ratios and technique checked against 辰辰妈dg on Douguo (奶酪佛卡夏). The method here is written by Stellaok and the illustration is ours; no text or photograph from the source is reproduced.