Marcus Wareing's focaccia recipe is light, fluffy and topped with a combination of courgette, rhubarb, herbs and red onion for a distinctly British twist on the Italian bread. This recipe is taken from Marcus Everyday by Marcus Wareing, with photography by Susan Bell (HarperCollins, £20).
In a jug, combine 150ml tepid water with the olive oil and yeast
(crumbling in the fresh yeast, if using) and mix together. Make
a well in the flour and pour the liquid into the well. Mix to
form a soft dough that leaves the sides of the bowl. Knead
for 7–10 minutes, until smooth. This can be done by hand on
a lightly floured surface or using a stand mixer fitted with a
dough hook
30ml of olive oil, plus 30ml for drizzling
7g of fast-action dried yeast, or 23g fresh yeast
3
Lightly grease the inside of a bowl with oil, place the dough
in it and cover the bowl with lightly oiled clingfilm. Leave to
rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until the dough has
doubled in size
4
Once the dough has risen, add the chopped herbs to the bowl
and knead them through the dough
Turn out the dough onto a floured work surface and roll it
out into a large rectangle, approximately 18 x 30cm and 1cm
thick. Push the rhubarb into the dough and top with the onion,
courgette and two-thirds of the olive oil. Sprinkle with salt,
place on a well-floured baking tray, cover loosely with oiled
clingfilm and leave in a warm place to prove for 30 minutes
1 stick of
rhubarb, 20cm long, cut into 1cm-thick slices
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2
courgette, sliced lengthways into 3–5mm strips (roughly 4 strips)
While the dough is proving, preheat the oven to 240°C/220°C fan/gas mark 8 with a heavy baking tray inside. After 20 minutes, drizzle the
remaining olive oil on the tray and place it back in the oven
7
Carefully remove the hot, oiled tray from the oven and slide the
proved dough onto it. Turn the oven down to 220°C/200°C fan/gas mark 7 and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, top with
the basil leaves and drizzle with the honey and return to the
oven for a further 10 minutes
