Sourdough Focaccia with Rosemary and Parmesan

This sourdough focaccia is incredibly moist & fluffy with the perfect crust! Flavored with rosemary, garlic oil, and parmesan for the ultimate focaccia bread!

This sourdough focaccia is the best version of focaccia I've ever tasted! It's a tried and true recipe passed down from a professional baker trained in working with wild yeast and fermented dough. This baker also happens to be in my family, who's now retired but passing down her recipes to me one by one. Yes I'm very lucky!

Why you'll love this recipe

• This sourdough focaccia is extremely soft, fluffy, and moist! It has a delicate crumb with a subtle chewiness that's satisfying to bite through!
• It's flavored with rosemary, garlic oil, and parmesan cheese! The perfect savory snack or appetizer. You can even make sandwiches with this!
• The addition of poolish and sourdough starter give his rosemary focaccia a complex flavor and texture that you won't find with recipes using just store bought yeast! It will definitely be worth your time taking this extra step.

Ingredients you'll need

• Sourdough starter - feed your starter the day before and 4 - 6 hours before starting the recipe. You want to use it when it's most active. In my case, I use it when it's two to three times the volume.
• Poolish - this is a type of pre-ferment that adds complex flavor to your focaccia. Make this 12 hours before using.
• Barley malt syrup - a thick, sweet syrup produced from grains that acts as food for the yeast in the dough. Substitute with molasses or honey.
• Olive oil - adds richness and flavor
• Dried rosemary - a wonderful herb to use in sourdough focaccia. You can use any dried herb you want.

Toppings:

• Rosemary - use fresh or dried rosemary on top
• Parmesan cheese - Use freshly grated parmesan cheese for the best flavor.
• Garlic - lightly simmer with olive oil to make a garlic oil to brush on top of the focaccia once it comes out of the oven.
• Onions - slice thinly and they'll roast on top of the focaccia bread and turn golden brown.

Step by step instructions

1. Make sure your starter and poolish is at its most active stage before starting. I make my poolish 12 hours before using it and feed my sourdough starter 4 - 6 hours before use. If you find that your starter and poolish are past their peak rise but aren't ready to start the recipe, you can keep it in the fridge to slow down the fermentation.
   
2. Add all the ingredients except for the olive oil and rosemary to a stand mixer and mix on low with a dough hook until the flour is incorporated.

3. Add the olive oil and mix on high until you get properly gluten development.

4. Test for gluten development once the dough pulls away from the mixing bowl and is not longer sticky. In the photo below, the dough is very wet and easily sticks to my fingers when stretching it between my hands. It's not ready yet.

5. Below is a photo of the dough after mixing on high for 2 to 3 more minutes. You can see that the dough is smoother, sticks to my hands less, and I'm able to stretch it thinly between my hands until it appear translucent.
   
   This is called the 'windowpane' test. Once it reaches this stage of gluten development, gently mix in the dried rosemary and take it out of the mixer. Next transfer it to a clear, oiled bowl or container.

6. Oiling the inside of the glass bowl prevents the dough from sticking to it. It's also easy to see how proofed the dough is since you can see the bubbles on the side. Transfer this to a proofer or any warm, humid place and let it proof for 1 hour or until you see small bubbles long the side of the bowl. This is called bulk fermentation, primary fermentation, or first proof.

7. Grease the inside of the baking pan with olive oil and then transfer the proofed focaccia dough to the baking pan.

8. Spread the dough flat and push it into the corners of the pan. Make sure the dough is an even width for even baking.

9. Let it proof for 30 more minutes or until it almost doubles in size. This step is called proofing or final fermentation.

10. While the focaccia dough is undergoing its final fermentation, prepare the toppings of rosemary, grated parmesan cheese, and the garlic oil.
    
11. Heat the minced garlic and olive oil in a small saucepan and let it simmer until the garlic turns a light brown. Turn off the heat. This will be brushed on top of the focaccia bread right when it comes out of the oven.

12. Gently place the sliced onion, parmesan cheese, and rosemary on top of the focaccia dough and bake it in a 420 degree F preheated oven for 20 minutes.

13. If you have a convection oven, turn on the fan during the last 5 minutes of baking to get a golden brown crust and further brown the sliced onions and cheese.

14. As soon as the sourdough focaccia comes out of the oven, brush it with the garlic oil we made earlier.

This creates a nice sheen on top of the rosemary focaccia and imparts a wonderful garlic flavor and aroma!

15. Transfer over the focaccia bread onto a wire rack to cool which will help prevent steaming in the pan. Slice and serve the most delicious sourdough focaccia with rosemary and garlic oil!

Expert tips and tricks

• Use a good quality olive oil for this recipe
• Make sure your sourdough starter and poolish are at their peak when you use it in the recipe. This ensures that you'll get maximum rise out of your dough.
• Based on my experience with my starter, it peaks when it reaches 2.5 times the volume after feeding. It's best to get familiar with your starter so you know how long it takes but the general rule of thumb is you want it to at least double in volume before using it in any recipe.

Variations and substitutions

• Dried herbs - use any dried herbs you have on hand. Other great options besides rosemary are: oregano, thyme, parlsey, and basil.
• Cheeses - if you don't have parmesan, try asiago, pecorino, or manchego cheese. Adjust the amounts based on the salinity of the cheeses.
• Toppings - instead of sliced onions, try leeks, shallots, chives, or any other vegetables in the allium family. You can also add slices of fresh tomatoes or olives to this focaccia.

Frequently asked questions

More recipes to try:

• Sourdough Starter 2 Ways – Traditional and No-discard method
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• Custard Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce
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• Easy Lemon Blueberry Bread with Walnuts

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