Instructions
Dissolve the yeast and sugar in 280 ml lukewarm water. Mix into the flour with 40 ml oil, then the salt, and knead 10 minutes to a smooth, supple dough.
15 minOil the dough, cover, and rise until doubled, about 1 hour somewhere warm.
60 minGenerously oil a 30 by 40 cm rimmed tray. Stretch the dough to fill it, flip once so both faces are oiled, cover, and rest 30 minutes.
35 minDimple with conviction: fingers straight, pressing to the metal, in close rows. Whisk 50 ml water with 30 ml oil and 4 g salt and pour this salamoia over the whole surface.
6 minFinal rise, uncovered, 45 minutes; the brine should still sit in the dimples.
45 minBake at 230 C until deep gold with pale valleys, 15 to 18 minutes. The bottom should sound dry when tapped.
18 minBrush with a last thread of oil, slide onto a rack so the base stays crisp, and tear into slerfe while warm.
Chef's Tips
- The brine is not optional: Pouring water on bread dough feels wrong once. After the first bite of what it does to the crumb, it feels like a secret you were finally told.
- Dimple to the metal: Shy dents vanish in the oven. Press until you feel the tray; the holes are structural, not decorative.
- Genoa dunks focaccia in cappuccino at breakfast. Salty into sweet and milky; suspend judgment until you have tried it.
