Lemon, Olive and Oregano Focaccia

Lunch | Italian

Prep time: 4 min Cook time: 30 min Servings: 8

This focaccia is built around three strong flavours: preserved lemon for salt and citrus, Sicilian green olives for brine, and fresh oregano across the top. The dough is a high hydration, no-knead style that comes out light and airy with a crispy base.

I bake it in a cast iron pan, which gives the bottom that crispy, almost fried texture from the oil pooled underneath. If you don’t have cast iron, a heavy based baking dish works too.

Like all focaccia, this needs time. The dough takes about four hours from start to oven, almost all of it resting. It’s a fairly easy recipe to follow, just give yourself plenty of time to make it and let the dough proof.

Ingredient Notes

Preserved lemon: Available at delis, specialty grocers and most Middle Eastern grocery stores. You only use the rind: scrape out and discard the flesh before slicing. The rind is intensely salty and citrusy, so the half lemon in this recipe is enough. Rinse it before use if you want to pull back the saltiness slightly.

Sicilian green olives: Large, meaty and less sharp than most green olives. Tearing them by hand rather than slicing gives a better, more irregular texture in the finished bread. Any good quality large green olive works if you can’t find Sicilian.

Bread flour: Higher protein than plain flour, which gives the dough its structure and chew. Don’t substitute plain or all-purpose flour as it will change the texture.

Dry yeast: Check the use-by date before you start. When mixing it with water, the water should be warm but not hot, around 32°C (90°F). Too hot kills the yeast; too cold and it won’t activate. It will start to foam or bubble once it’s activated. If it doesn’t do this, your yeast might be dead.

Equipment you’ll need

Large mixing bowl
30cm (12in) round cast iron pan or heavy based baking dish
Wire rack
Danish bread whisk
Tea towel
Dough scraper (helpful but not essential)

Ingredients

7g (2¼ tsp) dry yeast
475ml warm water (32°C/90°F)
60ml (¼ cup) olive oil
600g (4 cups) bread flour
12g (2½ tsp) cooking salt (kosher salt)
200g Sicilian green olives
½ a preserved lemon, flesh removed
6 sprigs oregano, leaves picked
flakey sea salt

Directions

Prep and proof dough
Place the yeast in a large bowl and mix in water until dissolved.
Pour in 30ml of the oil, then add the flour and salt. Mix until just combined and the flour is hydrated.
Cover the bowl with a tea towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Stretch and fold dough
Uncover the dough, then with a wet hand, stretch one corner of the dough and fold it over itself. Repeat 4 times until the dough is completely folded over itself.
Cover again with a tea towel and let it rest for another 30 minutes. Repeat this process three more times.
After the fourth and final round of stretching and folding, let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
Shape the Focaccia
Preheat the oven to 220°C fan forced (430°F).
Drizzle about 20mls of the oil in the bottom of a 30cm (12in) round heavy based baking dish, I generally use cast iron (standard or enamel coated). Pour in the dough and using well-oiled hands, stretch the dough to cover all corners of the tray. Cover with a tea towel and let it proof for 30 minutes.
Tear the green olives into small pieces and set aside. Remove the flesh from the preserved lemon, then finely slice the rind.
Bake
Uncover the tray and drizzle over some more oil. Use your fingers to create dimples throughout the dough.
Place the oregano all over the top of the dough, then the preserved lemon and olives in the dimples you created. Press into the dough until almost submerged. Sprinkle over some flakey salt.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden and cooked through. Drizzle with a little extra olive oil and set aside on a wire rack to cool in the tray for 30 minutes, before turning out and serving.

Recipe notes

Chef Tips

High hydration dough

This is a high hydration dough, which means it’s wetter than a regular bread dough. When you first mix it, you’re not aiming for a smooth ball. Mix until the flour is fully incorporated and no dry patches remain. That’s all you need to do at this stage.

Don’t knead it

This dough doesn’t get kneaded. The stretch and fold method develops the same gluten structure without overworking it. Wet your hand, grab a corner of the dough, stretch it up and fold it back over the centre. Rotate the bowl and repeat four times. That’s one round done.

It will be sticky

The stickiness is normal and expected with a high hydration dough. Don’t add more flour to compensate. Use wet or lightly oiled hands when handling the dough, or use a dough scraper to help move it around the bowl.

Don’t skip the rests

Each 30-minute rest lets the gluten relax and the dough develop structure without any effort from you. Rushing these will make the dough harder to work with and the final texture less open. Set a timer and leave it alone.

Room temperature affects the rise

If your kitchen is cold, the dough will take longer to rise and may feel sluggish between folds. A warm spot helps: the oven with just the light on, near a warm appliance, or on a sunny bench.

Using preserved lemon

Only the rind gets used here. Slice the preserved lemon, scrape out and discard the flesh, and finely slice the rind. It’s intensely salty and flavourful, so the half lemon called for is enough. Rinse the rind before slicing if you want to reduce the saltiness slightly.

Cast iron gives the best base

I use a 30cm (12in) cast iron pan (standard or enamel coated). The heavy base holds heat well and the oil pooled underneath gets hot enough to almost fry the base, which is what gives focaccia that crispy bottom. If you don’t have cast iron, use a heavy based baking dish. Avoid light aluminium trays as they won’t give the same result.

FAQs

Can I make this ahead of time? The dough can be made a day ahead and rested in the fridge overnight for a slow rise, which also develops more flavour. Bring it back to room temperature for about an hour before shaping. The toppings are best prepped fresh on the day.

Can I store leftovers? It’s best eaten fresh on the day it’s made. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container for a day and reheated in a hot oven for five minutes to crisp up the base again.

What can I serve it with? I serve it with an antipasto board or alongside soup. It’s also good just torn up and dipped in good olive oil. The preserved lemon and olive flavours are strong enough to hold their own against cured meats and cheeses.