Sourdough Focaccia
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This Sourdough Focaccia is a delicious Italian bread, combining a chewy sourdough with pesto sauce and shredded parmesan cheese. Add this bread to any Italian meal or eat it plain with a crisp glass of wine!
Have you hopped on the sourdough bandwagon yet? If so, try my Sourdough Bagels, the best ever Jalapeño Cheddar Sourdough Bread, and some Whole Wheat Sourdough Sandwich Bread next!
Focaccia with Sourdough Starter
This focaccia bread uses a sourdough starter to develop a delicious “sour” flavor. The addition of fresh basil pesto sauce and parmesan cheese adds additional flavor that can’t be matched.
My yeast-based Jalapeno Cheddar Focaccia and Italian Focaccia Bread are also delicious!
Why This Recipe Works:
- It’s simple. As mentioned, this has only seven ingredients and is quick to mix up.
- The pesto sauce and parmesan cheese add great flavor. I keep my homemade pesto sauce in the freezer for recipes just like this! And the parmesan cheese is a perfect addition.
- Gut healthy. Sourdough is a gut healthy bread. Sourdough bread is NOT gluten-free, as it contains flour, but its long fermentation helps break down this gluten. It’s easier on the gut because it’s more digestible and easier for the body to absorb.
- Higher Hydration. This recipe is 70% hydration which means it’s softer and has a more open crumb. You’ll see more “holes” in this bread due to a higher water to flour ratio.
- Delicious! We love the “sour” flavor of sourdough bread and this one is just right.
Make your own sourdough starter at home with just a few simple ingredients using Sourdough Starter Basics. In just over a week’s time and a little bit of patience, you’ll be ready to use your active starter to make the best sourdough bread!
Ingredients Used:
- Bubbly Starter – The starter is THE most important part of sourdough bread making. It takes a little time, but you will be rewarded over and over again.
- Filtered Water – Use a filtered water, either out of your refrigerator filter system or use bottled water. The water should either be room temperature or slightly warmed before adding it to the sourdough process.
- Pesto Sauce – I use my Homemade Basil Pesto Sauce, but any pesto will work.
- Flour – For this recipe, use a combo of unbleached bread flour and all-purpose flour.
- Sea Salt – I recommend using fine sea salt.
- Parmesan Cheese – Some freshly shredded parmesan cheese adds incredible flavor to this focaccia. (No powdered parmesan PLEASE!)
- Olive Oil – You’ll need about three tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil.
- Italian Seasoning – Optional, but really nice in this bread!
How to make Sourdough Focaccia:
Step 1
Carefully measure out the ingredients except the parmesan cheese (in the order listed) and combine in a mixing bowl. Use a fork and stir.
Step 2
Then use your hands to bring the ingredients together. It will look shaggy. Cover with a damp towel and let it sit for 45 minutes. (Be sure to set a timer.) This is the AUTOLYSE.
Step 3
After 45 minutes, add the parmesan cheese to the bowl. Then start the stretch and folds. Use your hand and lift the dough up on one side, stretching it upward, and then punch into the center of the dough. Turn the dough and repeat. Continue this process for about 30 seconds. This is the STRETCH AND FOLDS.
ADDITIONAL STRETCH AND FOLDS: I recommend doing additional stretch and folds if time permits. Do these every 30 minutes for 3-4 more times to further develop the gluten structure.
Step 4
Let the dough rise for eight hours, or overnight. It should almost double in size and appear soft on top. Small air bubbles may appear as well. This is the BULK RISE.
Note: I recommend placing a damp towel on the dough for the overnight rise. You might also add a bit of oil to the top to keep a crust from forming on the dough overnight.
Step 5
Use a 9×13 inch pan or slightly bigger. Add the olive oil to the pan and then add the sourdough, pushing down slightly to fill the pan. Then take the dough with your hands and gently flip it so that the other side is down in the pan. Don’t punch the dough down because you don’t want to remove all the air.
Cover with a damp towel and let it sit on your countertop for another 2-4 hours, or until it is very soft and puffy. This is the SECOND RISE.
Step 6
Prepare for baking. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Carefully use your fingers to form dimples all over the dough. Then add the Italian Seasoning to the dough.
Step 7
Bake. Bake focaccia for about 30 minutes, or until bread is nice and golden on top.
Step 8
Cool. Carefully remove bread to a cooling rack. Add fresh basil to the top.
Unlike other sourdough bread I’ve made, you can slice this bread when it is still slightly warm.
See my post on how to store sourdough bread for maximum freshness! Let’s not let our hard work go to waste and savor every single morsel of sourdough.
Other Delicious Sourdough Recipes
I’m really enjoying being on this sourdough journey and hope you are trying some of my recipes! Here are a handful of my favorites!
- Jalapeño Cheddar Sourdough Bread
- Multigrain Sourdough Bread
- Sourdough Sandwich Bread
- Cinnamon Raisin Sourdough Bread
- Cranberry Walnut Sourdough Bread
What to serve with Sourdough Focaccia Bread:
This focaccia bread goes with SO many things including the following.
This focaccia also is a great addition to a charcuterie board with various dips, cheeses, and Italian meats.
Kitchen Tools Used: (affiliate links)
xoxo ~Sue
Sourdough Focaccia
Ingredients
- 75 grams bubbly, active sourdough starter
- 375 grams warm, filtered water
- 40 grams basil pesto
- 300 grams unbleached bread flour
- 200 grams unbleached all-purpose flour
- 10 grams fine sea salt
- 100 grams freshly ground parmesan cheese
- 50 grams olive oil – for prepping to bake
- a few sprinkles of Italian Seasoning
Instructions
- Carefully measure out the ingredients except the parmesan cheese (in the order listed) and combine in a mixing bowl. Use a fork and stir.
- Then use your hands to bring the ingredients together. It will look shaggy. Cover with a damp towel and let it sit for 45 minutes. (Be sure to set a timer.) This is the AUTOLYSE.
- After 45 minutes, add the parmesan cheese to the bowl. Then start the stretch and folds. Use your hand and lift the dough up on one side, stretching it upward, and then punch into the center of the dough. Turn the dough and repeat. Continue this process for about 30 seconds. This is the STRETCH AND FOLDS.
- ADDITIONAL STRETCH AND FOLDS: I recommend doing additional stretch and folds if time permits. Do these every 30 minutes for 3-4 more times to further develop the gluten structure.
- Let the dough rise for eight hours, or overnight. It should almost double in size and appear soft on top. Small air bubbles may appear as well. This is the BULK RISE.
- Note: I recommend placing a damp towel on the dough for the overnight rise. You might also add a bit of oil to the top to keep a crust from forming on the dough overnight.
- Use a 9×13 inch pan or slightly bigger. Add the olive oil to the pan and then add the sourdough, pushing down slightly to fill the pan. Then take the dough with your hands and gently flip it so that the other side is down in the pan. Don’t punch the dough down because you don’t want to remove all the air.
- Cover with a damp towel and let it sit for about an 2-4 hours, or until it's very soft and puffy. This is the SECOND RISE.
- Prepare for baking. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Carefully use your fingers to form dimples all over the dough. Then add the Italian Seasoning to the dough.
- Bake. Bake focaccia for about 30 minutes, or until bread is nice and golden on top.
- Cool. Carefully remove bread to a cooling rack. Add fresh basil to the top. Slice focaccia and serve.
If you were making this with more pesto, would you need to adjust anything else in the recipe? Maybe 80-100 grams of pesto?
No, you could just add extra pesto! Enjoy and let me know how it turns out!
This was delicious! I can’t wait to try more of your sourdough starter recipes. 🙂
Oh I hope you love them as we do!! Thanks Cheryl!
This is a very tasty side (or app) and is relatively easy to make (providing you have a sourdough starter, and any self respecting baker has sourdough starter 😉
We served it with a SueBee’s Classic Chicken Parmesan and it was delicious!
If you don’t have a starter look for simple instructions on this blog.
So happy to hear this, Big Papa! 🙂
Delicious and it keeps my gut healthy…. good enough for me!
Haha right?