Focaccia con pomodori e origano – Recipe from Origano Cibo e Vino

We had not one but three (!) great meals at Origano Cibo e Vino, the charming restaurant owned by the Marangelli family in Minervino di Lecce, Puglia. Their bread is memorable, made with a 125 year old mother, and the chef graciously accepted to send us the recipe of their equally delicious Focaccia Pugliese. It is best enjoyed with a glass of Menhir Salento Pietra Rosato, a blend of Primitivo and Susumaniello with notes of orange blossom and white flowers. The combination will take you straight to Southern Puglia!

Focaccia con pomodorini e origano – makes 4 (10 to 12-inch) focacce

. 200 g mother yeast (alternatively, use 3gr Fleishmans Active Dry yeast or Saf-Instant Red dried yeast. Works fine!)
. 450 g Senatore Cappelli durum wheat re-milled semolina (semola rimacinata di grano duro)
. 250 g flour type 0 (can be found in Italian shops)
. 100 g potatoes
. 700 g warm water
. 80 g olive oil
. 20 g salt
. 5 g sugar
. cherry tomatoes as required
. 4 teaspoons dried oregano

Directions:

Put the mother yeast, the durum and the flour into a bowl and start kneading, (if using dry yeast, mix 350g of warm water, 3g dry yeast and 5g sugar in a small bowl and wait for it to start bubbling, then add to the flours). You can use a kneader, a mixer or knead by hand. When the dough becomes hard and irregular, leave it to rest for 40 minutes.

In the meantime boil the potatoes for about 40 minutes. Leave the potatoes to cool, then peel and mash them with a potato masher.

After these 40 minutes add the potatoes and the rest of the water (350 gr) to the dough. You should add the water slowly and gradually. Add the salt and at the end the olive oil. Then knead the dough and be careful not to warm it up too much.

When the dough is ready, put it into a food container and leave it to rest for two hours.

After this time, divide the dough into 450 g pieces (or 4 equal pieces if you used the dry yeast) and leave them to rise for the entire night in the fridge at 6 degrees Celsius (42.8F).

The day after, remove the pieces of dough from the fridge and leave them at room temperature for 2 hours. Stretch the dough with your hands and put them in greased baking dish/es. Use plenty of oil to stretch and grease the baking dish. Cut in half the cherry tomatoes and put them on the focaccia by pressing them down a little. Sprinkle with coarse salt and put the baking dish/es into the oven. Cook at 210 degrees for about 25 minutes. At the end of cooking, sprinkle with dried oregano. Enjoy!