Potato Focaccia

I love authentic focaccia made with a generous amount of olive oil. My recipe is inspired by Ligurian-born restaurateur, Lucio Galletto, who uses more water and oil in his recipe than many I’ve seen, which is what makes his focaccia so delicious. I love how versatile focaccia is and especially enjoy potato focaccia topped with golden slices of potato. I use Nicola Gold potatoes from The Gourmet Potato as I find they crisp up beautifully when cooked.

Serves 4 as a side dish or snack

Ingredients

¾ teaspoon dried yeast (about 2g)
Pinch sugar
⅔ cup warm water
250g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
Salt flakes, to taste
100ml extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for greasing
2 small Nicola potatoes (about 200g)

Method

Combine yeast, sugar and ⅓ cup of the warm water in a small bowl and set aside for 10–15 minutes, until it starts to froth.
Place flour and a pinch of salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook.
Add yeast mixture, remaining water and 2 tablespoons of the oil and mix on low speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl until everything is combined.
Mix on medium speed for about 5 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
Shape into a ball, coat in oil and place in a clean bowl. Cover and set aside in a warm spot for at least 2 hours, until doubled in size.
Generously grease the base and sides of a baking dish (about 26 x 20cm, or 25cm diameter).
Roll or stretch out the dough to roughly the size of the dish.
Put it in the dish and stretch it out to cover the base evenly.
Dimple the top with your fingertips, cover and set aside for another 30 minutes or so.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 220°C.
Peel and finely slice potato, toss with 1 tablespoon of the oil and set aside.
Drizzle another tablespoon of oil over the dough and brush it across the surface evenly; sprinkle generously with salt.
Arrange potato on top.
Drizzle with remaining oil and place in the oven.
Bake for 25–30 minutes, until potato is golden, basting the potato occasionally with the oil around the sides of the tin.
Cut into slices and serve warm.