Focaccia

INGREDIENTS

For the dough:

500g strong white flour

7g salt

10g dried active yeast 2 tablespoons olive oil 350ml lukewarm water

For the topping:

2 medium red onions, chopped 1tbsp olive oil

10-12 olives, halved

6-8 cherry tomatoes, halved 2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary Sea salt

METHOD

Mix the flour, salt and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in the olive oil and water.

Bring all the ingredients together with your hand to form a dough. Tip the dough out on to a lightly floured surface and knead for five to 10 minutes until you have a soft, elastic dough. Put the dough into a lightly-oiled mixing bowl, cover and leave to rise for about two hours or until doubled in size.

In the meantime, sweat the onions in the olive oil on a low heat for around 10 minutes. Set aside, reserving the oil also.

When the dough has risen, turn it out on to a lightlyfloured surface and knead lightly for 30 seconds. Stretch and shape the dough to fit a lightly oiled baking tray (about 26 x 34cm). Cover and leave to rise for 20-30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas 7.When the dough is well-risen, make several indentations with your fingers and put the olives and tomatoes into the holes.

Scatter the dough with the red onions and the oil from the pan. Remove the rosemary leaves from the sprigs and scatter on, along with some sea salt.

Bake for about 30 minutes until the bread is golden-brown and the onions have caramelised. Turn out on to a nice wooden board, tear into chunks and eat warm or cold.