Catherine Clark's Sourdough Focaccia

Ingredients

Catherine Clark's Sourdough Focaccia

• 670 grams warmish water
• 6 grams dry active yeast
• 1 teaspoon Willa sourdough starter
• 780 grams Ballerina Farm High Protein Farm flour
• 13 grams water (to dissolve the salt)
• 18 grams salt
• Extra virgin olive oil

(Note: I do my Focaccia by hand but you can absolutely use a mixer.)

Directions

1. In a large bowl, add the water, yeast, sourdough starter, and flour. Mix together by hand or with a dough whisk until there are no clumps of flour (the dough will be very wet and sticky).
2. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let sit for 15-30 minutes.
3. In a small bowl, dissolve the 13 grams water with the 18 grams salt (it won’t dissolve completely, and that’s ok).
4. Add the salt water to the dough and use your hands to squeeze and fold it into the dough. Cover again for 15-30 minutes.
5. With a flexible dough scraper or wet hands, transfer the dough onto a baking tray. Wet your hands and perform the first coil fold by grabbing the dough in the middle and lifting up until the dough is completely off the tray.
6. Fold the dough back onto itself and rotate the tray 90 degrees. Perform one more coil fold and then cover the dough with an oiled piece of parchment paper.
7. Perform a few more coil folds over the 3 hours (I usually do 4-5) while the dough sits at room temperature. The coil folds help with gluten formation and build tension on the top of the dough for a good rise.
8. After 3-4 hours, place the dough in the fridge, covered, and leave it to bulk ferment for 6-10 hours.
9. Pull the tray out of the fridge and leave at room temp for 1 hour. Pour a drizzle of olive oil over the top of the dough and dimple the dough with oiled fingers.
10. Bake at 220 degrees Celsius or 430 degrees Fahrenheit for 25-30 minutes.