Sage and Sea Salt Focaccia

This is a wet dough, so using a freestanding mixer is ideal. But you can do step 1 by hand, adding a little more flour if the dough is too sticky to knead.

Hands-on time 30min, plus rising and cooling. Cooking time about 25min. Serves 8  350g strong white flour, plus extra to dust

 7g sachet dried fast-action yeast  Small handful sage, leaves picked and finely shredded

 100ml olive oil, plus extra to grease  1tsp sea salt flakes

1 Put the flour into the bowl of a freestanding mixer fitted with a dough hook (see intro). Mix in the yeast, sage and 1tsp fine salt. Add 75ml oil and 225ml tepid water and mix on slow-medium speed for 5min, until the dough is elastic and soft

(it should be fairly sticky – add a little more flour if it is too sticky).

2 Cover bowl and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1½hr.

3 Draw a 20.5cm circle on to a sheet of baking parchment. Flip the parchment so the ink is underneath and place on a large baking sheet. Scrape the dough on to the parchment and press into a rough circle following the template.

4 Loosely cover with greased clingfilm (oil-side down) and leave to rise again in a warm place for 30min, or until soft and pillowy.

5 Preheat oven to 220°C (200°C fan) mark 7. With floured fingers, poke lots of vertical dimples into dough, pushing down to the sheet. Pour over the remaining 25ml oil and sprinkle over the salt flakes.

6 Bake for 25min, or until rich golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Serve just warm or at room temperature. PER SERVING 243cals, 5g protein, 10g fat (1g saturates), 33g carbs (0g total sugars), 1g fibre

GET AHEAD Bake up to a day ahead. Cool completely, wrap well and store at room temperature. To serve, reheat in an oven preheated to 180°C (160°C fan) mark 4 for 5min.