Skillet focaccia with artichoke dip

Prep time: 30 minutes, plus 6 hours proving Cook time: 25 minutes

Serves 4-6

This focaccia is a real confidence booster; easy to make and guaranteed to emerge looking proudly dramatic, glistening and crackling with a dark, undulating crust. It’s best eaten on the day it’s made. The dip can be made a few hours in advance and chilled, but should come to room temperature before serving.

INGREDIENTS

– 2 x 7g sachets

fast-action dried yeast – 2 tsp caster sugar – 600g plain flour

– 1 tbsp flaky sea salt,

plus extra for the top – 9 tbsp extra-virgin

olive oil

– needles from 1 large

sprig of rosemary

For the artichoke dip

– 1 x 280g jar artichokes

in oil, drained

– 1 garlic clove

– 250g cream cheese

– 4 tbsp olive oil

– 6 tbsp sour cream, crème fraîche or yoghurt

– handful of mint

leaves

– small handful of

chives

– 1 tbsp lemon juice

METHOD

Mix the yeast with the sugar and 480ml lukewarm water, and whisk to combine. Set aside for 5 minutes – it should become frothy.

Add the flour and salt and mix to combine until you have a dough. It will be really sticky and shaggy-looking. Use a dough scraper to pick it up off the work surface, or a spatula.

Add a couple of tablespoons of the olive oil to a really large bowl and tip the dough into it, turning it over to coat.

Allow to rise at room temperature for 2-3 hours, or until doubled in size. It should be really bubbly and jiggly.

Grease a cast-iron frying pan (or skillet) with another few tablespoons of the olive oil.

Oil your hands and bring the dough up and over itself into the centre of the bowl four times, making a quarter turn each time, then turn the dough out into the pan, seam-side down.

Allow to rise again at room temperature for a further 1-3 hours, or until doubled in size again.

When you’re ready to cook, prepare a lidded barbecue for two-zone cooking so that the coals are banked to one side, creating a hot zone and a cooler zone.

Whizz the dip ingredients using a small blender.

Oil your hands really well, then make deep dimples in the dough with your fingers, pressing right down to the bottom of the pan. Cover really well with an extra few tablespoons of olive oil, then sprinkle generously with sea salt and rosemary.

Place the pan over indirect heat with the lid closed and the vents half closed top and bottom, and cook for 20-25 minutes or until dark brown on top. Remove from the heat and let the bread cool a little before serving with the dip alongside.

To cook indoors: preheat the oven to 260C/240C fan/gas mark 9 and bake for 25-30 minutes.