May 2, 2023

Sourdough Pizza Dough Focaccia

Name: Sourdough Pizza Dough Focaccia
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 1610 min
Ingredients: 1/2 cup sourdough starter (active/fed); 1 1/4 cups warm water; 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil; 2 teaspoons baker&#039;s artisan sea salt (or Kosher Salt); 2 teaspoons granulated sugar; 1 1/2 teaspoons dried minced onion; 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder; 3 cups all-purpose flour; 4 tablespoons Extra Virgin olive oil; 1 tablespoon dried rosemary (or 3-4 sprigs of fresh); 1/3 cup black or green olives (halved or sliced); 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes; 1 teaspoon Fleur de Sel - sea salt

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I love sourdough pizza and this Sourdough Pizza Dough Focaccia is an easy and great way to use the extra dough from my artisan pizza recipe. Flavored with rosemary, olives, and dried tomatoes–or simply with sea salt, it’s so delicious.

Please realize that my recipe for Artisan Sourdough Pizza Dough makes enough for four pizzas! Which is perfect for large gatherings. However, when it’s just me and my husband, this focaccia recipe is a great way to use the extra dough the next night or even later in the week. simply by refrigerating it.

Please note that the longer sourdough is refrigerated, the stronger the sourdough flavor will become. I’ve used refrigerated sourdough as long as one week later without noticing too much tang.

I worked long and hard on this pizza recipe, testing and tweaking it over and over until I had it just the way I wanted. It has a lovely sourdough tang with minced onions, and garlic. What’s more, it serves double-time as the base for this wonderful focaccia.

What is Focaccia?

Focaccia (pronounced fo-kah-cha), means “Hearth Bread” and is an Italian flatbread, flavored with sea salt, herbs, and olive oil. This classic bread varies from 1/2″ – 1 1/2″ thickness and is similar to pizza dough, but has more rise, a chewy interior, and is distinguished by it’s light, airy holes. Most people enjoy it at mealtime, but it is also quite delicious as an afternoon snack, or even sliced to use in sandwiches.

Now that you have a little background on the actual dough, let’s move on to making focaccia! For simplicity’s sake, I am including amounts for half of my pizza dough below. Feel free, however, to use my full recipe for Artisan Sourdough Pizza Dough Here.

More Pizza and Flatbread Recipes

Ingredients for Sourdough Pizza Dough Focaccia

(See the full recipe at the bottom of this post.)

sourdough starter (active or fed)
warm water
extra-virgin olive oil
artisan sea salt (Buy Here or use Kosher Salt)
granulated sugar
dried minced onion
garlic powder
all-purpose flour

Toppings

extra-virgin olive oil
fresh or dried rosemary
black or green olives, halved or sliced
sun-dried tomatoes
sea salt

Instructions for Making This Recipe

Gather the ingredients so that you have everything close at hand on the counter or table.

Make the Dough

In a large bowl, combine the “fed” or active sourdough starter, warm water, extra-virgin olive oil, artisan sea salt, granulated sugar, dried minced onion, garlic powder, and 2 cups of all-purpose flour. Mix together by hand with a wooden spoon or dough whisk until combined.

Continue mixing in the remaining all-purpose flour until the dough comes together in a ball. The dough may still be sticky at this point. Cover with plastic wrap and allow the dough to set out on the counter overnight.

The next morning, turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and stretch and fold two or three times until it comes together in a nice ball.

Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 10-12 hours, or up to 4-5 days.

Allow Dough to Rise

When you’re ready to make the Focaccia, remove the dough from the refrigerator and bring to room temperature.

Drizzle 1-2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil in a 9″x 9″ square pan. Place the dough in the pan and gently stretch and pull the edges to fill the entire pan. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 2-4 hours, depending on the temperature of your kitchen.

If you prefer a thinner focaccia, you may place the dough in an oblong baking pan. Continue with the remaining instructions, allowing less baking time for the thinner dough.

Prepare the Focaccia

Preheat oven to 425 degrees, and allow the oven to heat for at least 60 minutes before baking.

When the dough has doubled, gently press down with your fingers to dimple the dough, nearly to the bottom of the pan.

Drizzle the dough with extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. If desired, you may also sprinkle with fresh or dried rosemary, black and/or green olives, and sun-dried tomatoes.

Some bakers make beautiful designs to top their focaccia. If you’re feeling artistic, go for it! Or simply top with olive oil and sea salt. It’s all good, and so delicious, really.

Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until light golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.

To serve, turn bread from a pan and onto a cutting board. Slice into rectangles or squares and place on a plate or platter. This bread is best served warm or at room temperature on the same day it is baked.

Freeze Leftovers

You may freeze any leftovers by wrapping bread in aluminum foil and placing in a freezer bag. To reheat, place foil-wrapped frozen bread on a baking tray and heat at 350 degrees until warmed through, about 10-12 minutes.

This recipe will serve 12-16 people.

See more Sourdough Recipes Here. Browse Pizza Recipes Here. See all of my Bread Recipes Here.