There’s nothing like the smell of homemade bread, especially when it’s stuffed with fresh herbs right from your garden or balcony. I’ve been making homemade bread for a while now, but I only recently discovered the extreme joy that I get from baking mini focaccia. The crispy crust, the soft, inner crumb, and the taste of a rich olive oil…sounds mouthwatering, right!?
The basic steps to make focaccia are pretty much always the same. You get up in the morning, make coffee, and start making the dough while you’re still in your pajamas. Or, at least that’s the way I do it. Once you have the basic dough made (no kneading required!), you can get creative, and fill it and shape it into a million different forms. With this recipe, I have created an appetizer-sized loaf with two different herb fillings, one of them with oregano, the other with rosemary. You can also replace these with any other herbs you like.
I made these mini focaccia a little bigger than other recipes might, because I wanted to keep the inside soft and moist. When you serve it as an appetizer, you can cut it into different pieces or leave it as is so the guests can tear it apart themselves. Serve it with a little extra olive oil and salt, if you like.
Enjoy the process of making this incredibly delicious mini focaccia and don’t forget to tag me in your pajamas on Instagram when you make this recipe 🙂
MINI FOCACCIA WITH OREGANO AND ROSEMARY HERBS
INGREDIENTS
Dough
- 500 g all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp coarse sea salt
- ½ cube of yeast approx. 20g, crumbled
- 300 ml of water
- 3 tbsp olive oil plus a little more for the top of the bowl and work surface
Oregano filling
- 2 tbsp fresh oregano finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves grated
- 1 pinch sea salt coarse
- 3 tbsp olive oil
Rosemary filling
- 2 tbsp fresh rosemary finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves grated
- 1 pinch sea salt coarse
- 3 tbsp olive oil
Shape
- 2 tbsp olive oil plus a little more for the work surface, your hands and the parchment paper
- 1 pinch sea salt coarse
- Serve
- 1 tbsp olive oil
INSTRUCTIONS
Dough
- In a large bowl, mix flour with sea salt. In a medium bowl, mix yeast with water until dissolved and add in flour along with olive oil. Make dough with a soft spatula. Spread a little olive oil over it, cover it with a kitchen towel, and let it rise for 2 hours, until it’s at least doubled in size.
Oregano and Rosemary Filling
- In a small bowl, mix oregano with garlic cloves, sea salt, and olive oil. In another small bowl, do the same with the rosemary.
Shaping
- Line the baking tray with parchment paper and spread a little olive oil on the work surface. Carefully loosen the dough from the edge of the bowl with a spatula or with your hands, divide dough into two parts, and place half of the dough on the work surface. Leave the other half covered in the bowl. Rub a little oil on your hands. Then, with your oiled hands, carefully stretch the dough into a square shape of approx. 35x35cm. Next, spread the oregano-olive oil filling over the dough, and fold it lengthwise. Using a knife, cut the dough lengthwise into 1.5 cm wide strands. Wrap each strand individually around 3 of your fingers, creating a knot and tuck the ends of the strands underneath. Place the knots on the baking sheet. Repeat with all strands.
- Repeat with the second half of the dough with rosemary filling. Leave the knots to rest for another 30 minutes, without covering them.
- Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt on top. Bake on the center rack of a well-preheated oven at 200 degrees Celsius (400° Fahrenheit) for approx. 20 minutes until the mini focaccias are golden brown and crispy.
Serve
- Remove from the oven, brush the surface with more olive oil, let them sit for 5 minutes and serve warm.
